Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Keir Starmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the measures in place at HS2 Ltd to ensure fairness and consistency in the decisions of the independent panel that considers applications under its Need to Sell scheme.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The independent panel makes a recommendation to a member of the Senior Civil Service acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport on whether to accept or reject an application made under the Need To Sell (NTS) scheme. The panel is provided with guidance on the scheme and its criteria in order to ensure fair and consistent consideration of the documentary evidence supplied for each individual case. HS2 Ltd’s NTS Secretariat provides support to the panel process, including informing the panel of any previous recommendations made that could be relevant to the case being discussed, in order to ensure consistency in the panel’s reasoning.

Bus Services: Ellesmere Port and Neston

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve bus services in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need to improve local bus services. We are working with interested local authorities to determine which of the powers provided are best able to support bus networks in their areas. In particular, new Enhanced Partnership and Advanced Quality Partnership powers provide the framework for authorities to work side by side with operators to set a shared vision for bus services in their area. Bus Open Data powers will require bus operators in England to open up route and timetable, fares and tickets and real time information for passengers by 2020. These improvements aim to remove uncertainty in bus journeys, improve journey planning and help passengers secure best value tickets. Accessible Information powers will require all operators of local bus services to provide audio and visual route and next stop announcements on board buses across Great Britain, helping to remove barriers to bus travel particularly for those with disabilities or accessibility needs.

Railways: Ellesmere Port and Neston

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve rail services to and from Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.

Joseph Johnson: As part of the recent May ‘18 timetable, Ellesmere Port shuttle services were retimed to provide an improved connectional opportunity for the Manchester commuting. As part of the Northern franchise, a Service Option Scheme Fund has been established. The objective of the Service Option Scheme Fund is to implement train service improvements over and above those committed through the franchise procurement process, to deliver some of Transport for the North’s Long Term Rail Strategy objectives. We would ask the honourable member to engage with officials from Transport for the North on the development of a business case for consideration.

Hydrogen: Garages and Petrol Stations

Gillian Keegan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has any plans to introduce permanent hydrogen refuelling stations on the south coast of England.

Jesse Norman: The Government has no current plans to introduce permanent hydrogen refuelling stations (HRSs) in that area. The £23m Hydrogen for Transport Programme will continue to support the development of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure via a competitive bidding process. Siting of stations is one of a number of criteria, and it is for the market to lead on developing strong bids for specific locations. In March this year the Government announced the winners of £8.8 million of funding, which will see the construction of additional hydrogen refuelling stations as well as upgrades to existing refuelling infrastructure.

Department for Transport: Annual Reports

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date he plans to publish his Department's annual report and accounts for 2017-18.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Holding answer received on 16 July 2018



The Department is continuing to work with the NAO to finalise its external financial audit activity and plans to publish its Annual Report and Accounts for 2017-18 in due course.

Midland Main Railway Line

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to restore the journey time of East Midland Trains Master Cutler service from Sheffield to St Pancras to its 2017 journey time.

Joseph Johnson: East Midlands Trains and its rail industry partners, supported by the Department, will continue to review the timetables to see if it is possible to improve the journey time of the Master Cutler service at an early date.

Driving Tests: Young People

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including as part of the driving test process more information and guidance to young drivers on the dangers of driving powerful vehicles.

Jesse Norman: Throughout the process for learning to drive, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) makes available, in its range of learning materials, information and guidance to all learner drivers about driving any vehicle safely. Learning materials include the Highway Code and the National Standard for Driver and Rider Training. While there has been no specific assessment of including in the DVSA’s learning materials information about the dangers of driving powerful vehicles, the Department plans to trial the effectiveness of a range of measures to improve the safety of young and novice drivers, both before they take their test and after passing it.

London North Eastern Railway

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding has been allocated from the public purse for advertising the LNER service on London buses.

Joseph Johnson: £87,706 was spent on London buses in respect of the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) brand awareness campaign which was commissioned prior to 24 June 2018. The East Coast mainline continues to generate operating profits and LNER pays money into the public purse.

Nunhead Station

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains per hour stopped at Nunhead train station in June in each of the last three years.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Transport does not routinely hold this information, but I have asked Govia Thameslink Railway to provide it to the Rt Hon and Learned Member directly.

Govia Thameslink Railway: Timetables

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the introduction of the new Govia Thameslink timetable in Camberwell and Peckham.

Joseph Johnson: The performance of the Thameslink timetable through Camberwell and Peckham since 20 May has been unacceptable. As of 15 July, Govia Thameslink Railway have put in place an amended timetable which must provide passengers with the performance they expect. Southern Metro services through Camberwell and Peckham (which are also run by Govia Thameslink Railway) have been performing very well and we expect this to continue.

Govia Thameslink Railway

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2018 to Question 158209 on Govia Thameslink Railway, when his Department plans to conclude its review on whether Govia Thameslink Railway has met their contractual obligations.

Joseph Johnson: The review of the Govia Thameslink franchise is continuing and will report to the Secretary of State in the coming weeks.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Railways: North East

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of a rail sector deal to the North East.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 16 July 2018



Sector Deals are a challenge to sectors to come together under clear leadership and make a clear and compelling case to government for a Deal. The Industrial Strategy set out six expectations government has of a Deal. These include ensuring that the breadth of the sector is clearly represented in any deal, explicitly including local areas with an interest in the success of the sector, and that any specific proposals clearly articulate the impact they have on specific parts of the country. The Government would expect these expectations to be fully met in any potential future Sector deal with the Rail sector.

Aerospace Industry: Investment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to secure investment in the Aerospace sector.

Richard Harrington: Government backs aerospace through its Aerospace Growth Partnership with industry, which tackles barriers to growth, boost exports and grows high value jobs in the UK. This includes, committing £1.95 billion to aerospace R&D until 2026. This partnership has supported the sector’s growth. Since 2010 turnover has grown from £23.7 billion to £34.9 billion; industry R&D spend has grown from £1.4 billion to 1.9 billion; exports have increased from £18 billion to £36 billion; and direct jobs have increased from 110,000 to 120,000.

Pay

Dame Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of pay between assignment (PBA) contracts on equal pay; what the average length of time workers have been on PBA contracts in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 16 July 2018



The Government does not hold data on the average length of pay between assignment contracts. Alongside the Government response to Matthew Taylor’s review of modern working practices, we launched a public consultation that covers, amongst other areas, the issue of pay between assignment contracts. As part of this, we asked for information on the use of these contracts. The consultation recently closed. We are considering the responses and we will set out next steps shortly.

Financial Reporting Council Independent Review

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the terms of reference of the Independent Review of the Financial Reporting Council 2018, if he will publish summary meeting notes for all meetings of that review.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 16 July 2018



I have asked Sir John Kingman to carry out the review independently. Summaries of the discussions of the Review’s Advisory Group will be available at the gov.uk website. The final report will also include details of all the organisations consulted in the course of the review.

Products: EU Law

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the Government has done to ensure in negotiations with the European Commission that conformity assessments on products conducted by a UK body continue to be sufficient for the product to be sold on the EU market after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: The Government recognises the valuable work undertaken by UK bodies in ensuring that products placed on the market have been through suitable conformity assessment. As part of negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement, we have agreed with the EU that goods placed on the market before the end of the implementation period may freely circulate on both UK and EU markets and that compliance activity for these goods, such as conformity assessment, is recognised by both parties. On 12th July the Government published a White Paper, which sets out a clear proposal for our future relationship with the EU. This includes a proposal for a free trade area between the UK and the EU and the maintenance of a common rulebook for goods, supported by arrangements covering all relevant compliance activity, such as conformity assessment. This would provide for frictionless trade at the border. Negotiations are ongoing, and we will continue to engage with UK stakeholders to understand and represent their concerns as we develop our negotiating position.

Business

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to provide stability for businesses as the UK leaves the EU.

Richard Harrington: The UK and EU have reached agreement on an implementation period that will operate from 30 March 2019 until 31 December 2020. During this period, market access to the EU will continue on current terms, enabling businesses to trade as now.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Companies: Ownership

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Crown Dependencies on setting up public registers of beneficial ownership on the basis of a voluntary agreement in the last two months.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not responsible for UK engagement with the Crown Dependencies regarding existing beneficial ownership arrangements, and has therefore not had any discussions with the Crown Dependencies on this issue.The Ministry of Justice is the UK Government Department responsible for the UK's wider constitutional relationship with those jurisdictions.

Sudan: Religious Freedom

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Government of Sudan on freedom of religion and belief; and what representations he has made to that government on behalf of people accused of apostasy.

Harriett Baldwin: Sudan remains a Human Rights Priority Country for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and we are deeply concerned about infringements and restrictions on freedom of religion or belief. We regularly raise these concerns with the Government of Sudan at the highest levels. Most recently, the British Ambassador did so with Vice President Hassabo Mohammed Abdulrahman on 17 June.Freedom of religion or belief is a core part of the human rights element of the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue, the fifth round of which was held on 24 April. Promoting freedom of religion or belief as a means of enhancing tolerance and inclusion will remain a key part of our ongoing engagement with the Government of Sudan. We are considering ways that FCO programme funding could help to promote freedom of religion or belief in Sudan.

UN Mission in Darfur: Finance

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure the budget for the UNAMID mission in Darfur, Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The United Nations General Assembly recently agreed a six months budget for the period 1 July 2018 to 31 December 2018 of $385.7 million for the African Union/UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The UK continues to fully support the Mission and to play an active role in ensuring it is adequately resourced to implement its mandate. This includes acting as penholder for UNAMID in the UN Security Council.

Sudan: Human Trafficking

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure that the Regional Operations Centre in Khartoum has adequate security to prevent the names and addresses of refugees and internally displaced peoples being accessed by agencies of the Government of Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK supports the Regional Operation Centre of Khartoum (ROCK) as part of joint efforts to tackle organised immigration crime in the region. The ROCK is implemented by Civipol and funded by the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, to which the UK contributes.Our officials at the British Embassy in Khartoum are working closely with the EU Delegation to ensure risks are acknowledged and mitigated to the fullest extent in the design and implementation of the ROCK project. Additional technical assistance is provided through the UK's Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. We have also provided a Migration Adviser to add further UK support to the French-led consortium who are pushing forward the logistics for setting up the ROCK.

South Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of progress on the peace talks in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK welcomed the signing on 27 June of the Khartoum Declaration by the parties to the conflict, and the renewed commitment to a permanent ceasefire. We are urging the parties to engage meaningfully with talks as they continue in the region and welcome the vital role regional actors are playing in pursuit of peace. Both the region and the parties to the conflict must ensure that the new ceasefire agreement is implemented in full, without delay, and that it is robustly and independently monitored. A sustained end to fighting is necessary for progress in ongoing discussions.The UK played a leading role in the UN Security Council's decision on 13 July to impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on South Sudan. This decision will lend support to ongoing region-led peace talks by demonstrating that those who continue to perpetrate violence will be held to account for their crimes. We continue to explore all available avenues for taking action against those who undermine the path to peace.

Nigeria: Violence

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is providing to the Nigerian Government to tackle the conflict between armed Fulani herders and farmers.

Harriett Baldwin: We are deeply concerned by the escalating ‎inter-communal violence in Nigeria and the devastating impact which this has had on affected communities including heavy loss of life. We have raised our concerns at Federal, State and Local government level, as well as with traditional leaders, civil society organisations and faith leaders. We continue to call for a solution that meets the needs of all the communities affected.We are reviewing the support we provide to help reduce levels of conflict in Nigeria and to help Nigeria tackle the effects of climate change. Officials have extended an offer of support to Nigerian led efforts to end the violence to the Nigerian Vice President's Office.

Nigeria: Violence

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on how armed Fulani militia in Nigeria have obtained the resources to purchase sophisticated weaponry.

Harriett Baldwin: We are deeply concerned about the escalating inter-communal violence in Nigeria and at the resulting loss of life. We have raised our concerns with the Federal and local government and with representatives of affected communities, including traditional and faith leaders. We do not have information about the weapons used in recent attacks or how they were obtained. We welcome President Buhari's commitment to bring the perpetrators of this violence to justice and to work with all parties to develop solutions which meet the needs of all communities and prevent further violence.

South Sudan: Corruption

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he is making to the Government of South Sudan on political reform and tackling corruption.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK continues to urge the parties to the conflict to engage meaningfully with ongoing peace talks, led by the region, in order to address the outstanding crucial governance and political reform issues that remain. In addition we are urging the parties to focus on negotiating inclusive and transparent governance arrangements - without this, there can be no sustainable peace in South Sudan.The UK continues to work to tackle the corruption that enables conflict in South Sudan. We are engaging closely with British banks to analyse and tackle illicit financial flows, and are also working closely with the EU and international partners to clamp down on corruption and money laundering.

India: Christianity

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the persecution of Christians in India.

Mark Field: ​UK officials regularly interact with religious and other minorities in India, including representatives of the Christian communities. We condemn any instances of discrimination because of religion or belief, regardless of the country or faith involved. In support of minorities the British High Commission in New Delhi, our network of Deputy High Commissions, as well as FCO officials in London, maintain a continuous assessment of the human rights situation across India.

British Overseas Territories

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to change the constitutional arrangements between the UK and the British Overseas Territories.

Sir Alan Duncan: Holding answer received on 16 July 2018



As the 2012 White Paper lays out, we believe that the fundamental structure of our constitutional relationship is the right one. Should any Overseas Territory seek to change its constitution, we would consider it on a case by case basis.

Developing Countries: Sustainable Development

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of Official Development Assistance spending on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK helped secure the landmark Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and we meet the United Nations' 0.7% gross national income target for Official Development Assistance (ODA). The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as a leading ODA-spending department, is helping to advance the SDGs globally by contributing to the objectives of the UK Aid Strategy, particularly in the areas of peace and security, governance and economic development, which underpin poverty reduction.

Overseas Aid

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve the transparency of Official Development Assistance spent by his Department.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is committed to meeting the target for Official Development Assistance (ODA) transparency laid down in the UK Aid Strategy and we routinely publish data on gov.uk. The FCO has brought in changes to the way we publish data, including upgrading computer systems, streamlining the data entry process and reviewing the level of detail we include in our data publications. Many of these changes are strategic and long term in nature, and are intended to facilitate much better data publishing by 2020. The FCO will continue to discuss the detailed findings with Publish What You Fund to identify further areas for improvement. We are confident that we will meet HMG’s transparency commitment by 2020 and are making sure that UK taxpayers’ money is spent well in ways that advance the UK Aid Strategy’s objectives.

Nicaragua: Politics and Government

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report, Nicaragua: Shoot to kill: Nicaragua's strategy to repress protest, published by Amnesty International in May 2018.

Sir Alan Duncan: The May 2018 Amnesty International report on Nicaragua is alarming. We continue to follow developments closely, including through contacts with EU and US partners and local stakeholders in the country. We have expressed our deep concern about the violence to the Nicaraguan government and urged them to take responsibility for ending the repression against their own citizens.We welcome the work of international institutions in Nicaragua, such as the UN and Organisation of American States (OAS) and I welcome the government's invitations to the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, the UN, and the EU to support the resolution of the crisis and urge the authorities to allow them to carry out their work fully without hindrance.

Western Sahara: Human Rights

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in cases C-104/16 P Council V Front Polisario and C-266/16 Western Sahara Campaign UK for his policies on the territory of, and products originating from, Western Sahara.

Alistair Burt: ​I refer the Hon. Member to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury’s recent answer to a similar question regarding imports from Western Sahara (158256).

Western Sahara: Human Rights

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in cases C-104/16 P Council V Front Polisario and C-266/16 Western Sahara Campaign UK for the recent trade proposals to the European Council of Ministers.

Alistair Burt: The UK accepts the judgement of the European Court of Justice in these cases, and has always been clear that any new proposals to the Council which address the substance of the judgement should conform with international law.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken since his appointment to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from imprisonment in Iran; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: ​We remain very concerned about all our dual nationals detained in Iran. We continue to raise their cases with the Iranian Government at every opportunity, and make decisions in line with what we believe will produce the best outcomes in their cases. However, we will not be providing a running commentary. We judge this will not be helpful, or in the best interest of each case.

Turkey: LGBT People

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has made to the Turkish Government on the cancellation of Istanbul Pride.

Sir Alan Duncan: In the run-up to the Istanbul Pride March planned for early July our missions in Turkey raised the issue with the Turkish authorities in both Ankara and Istanbul. We urged Turkey to allow the march to go ahead and were disappointed that the ban was maintained and I stated as such in public comments. We will continue to encourage Turkey to respect the rights of the LGBTI community.

Turkey: LGBT People

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to support LGBT Rights in Turkey.

Sir Alan Duncan: We fully support the rights of LGBTI groups in Turkey. We regularly urge Turkey to work towards full protection of their fundamental rights, including with respect to freedom of expression and assembly, and will continue to do so. The British Embassy in Ankara provides project support to a number of Turkish civil society organisations working in the area of fundamental freedoms. In recent years this has included groups working on LGBTI issues.

Department for Exiting the European Union

UK Relations with EU

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which sections of the White Paper, The Future Relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, published on 12 July 2018, his Department shared with the Welsh Government before 12 July 2018.

Mr Robin Walker: There has been extensive engagement with the Welsh Government on a variety of key policy areas that relate to the White Paper. The content of the White Paper was discussed at a number of meetings, including the Joint Ministerial Committee for EU Negotiations and the Ministerial Forum on EU Negotiations. Discussions covered a range of areas of the draft White Paper, including the Future Economic Partnership and the Future Security Partnership. Four draft sections of the White Paper were shared with the Welsh Government in advance of publication for their comment. These were: Fishing OpportunitiesScience and InnovationInternational Action and DevelopmentCivil Judicial Cooperation

UK Relations with EU

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, at what time and on what date his Department shared the finished White Paper, The Future Relationship with the United Kingdom and the European Union, published on 12 July 2018, with the Welsh Government.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK Government White Paper on the future relationship between the UK and the EU was shared with the Welsh Government in the morning of 12 July - the day of publication. I also spoke with the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Prof. Mark Drakeford AM, first thing in the morning, before the official publication, to talk through the White Paper. We had a positive discussion on its content. Certain elements of the White Paper were shared with the devolved administrations in advance of publication, as referenced in PQ 163536.

Department of Health and Social Care

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that costs for medical care provided under the EHIC system are covered by the Government of the patient rather than by the patient or the Government of the country where the medical care was provided.

Stephen Barclay: Under current European Union Regulations, other European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Switzerland reimburse the United Kingdom for the cost of the National Health Service providing treatment to people they are responsible for under EU law, including UK nationals insured in another EEA country or Switzerland. In the same way, the UK Government reimburses other EEA countries and Switzerland for the cost of providing treatment to people the UK is responsible for under EU law, irrespective of nationality. This includes coordinating the provision and payment for healthcare treatment for those travelling, working and moving around Europe. The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) system gives holders the right to access state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in the EEA and Switzerland, either for free or at reduced cost. This entitlement is reciprocal and is available to UK, EEA and Swiss residents. The Department informs people about the EHIC and the application process via the NHS Choices website. As a matter of course, the Department always recommends UK-insured persons secure private travel insurance to give them additional coverage for treatment and health-related services not ordinarily covered by the EHIC scheme. The UK Government appreciates the importance of current reciprocal arrangements with the EU and has been clear that it wishes to see the existing arrangements, including the EHIC scheme, continued in the future. I have asked officials to review any areas of abuse in the EHIC system.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his policy priorities are in the Accelerated Access Pathway programme; and what the implications are of that programme for life-extending treatments.

Steve Brine: In December 2017, the Government published the Life Sciences Sector Deal, which detailed our commitments to taking forward the ambition in the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy. This included implementing the response to the Accelerated Access Review, which sets out a plan to increase the rate of uptake of innovative products. In delivering this response, the Government has brought together the key Government, National Health Service and industry partners to form the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) which will drive the uptake and adoption of innovation in the NHS, identifying and supporting the innovations that will be most transformative for patients. The AAC will oversee the Accelerated Access Pathway, streamlining regulatory and market access decisions, and providing additional support to increase uptake of the most transformative innovations.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to pilot the self-sampling of cervical screening for women who would prefer to access their screening in that way; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee is currently reviewing the evidence for human papillomavirus self-sampling as an additional test within the National Health Service cervical screening programme. A public consultation looking at self-screening is due to open in autumn 2018.

Mental Health Services

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that funding allocated to tackling mental illness is spent on that issue.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health Dashboard reports detail on the expenditure made by National Health Service clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on mental health services. It is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/taskforce/imp/mh-dashboard CCGs are required each year, under the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS), to increase their spend on mental health services by a greater amount than the growth in their overall programme allocation. The requirement to meet the MHIS is included within the NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance 2017–2019 and is a key part of NHS England’s operational and financial planning assurance process for 2018/19.

Ambulance Services

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the announcement of 6 July 2018 on investment in new ambulances for the NHS, what steps he is taking to ensure that those ambulances are made in the UK.

Stephen Barclay: The Government recently announced funding for 256 new ambulances across five ambulance trusts. The procurement will ensure that a fair and transparent process is undertaken which takes into account value for money and other social considerations as permitted by the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The procurement of new ambulances is constituted of two elements- the purchase of the base vehicle and conversion into the ambulance, according to the required specification. Purchase of the base vehicles is currently undertaken by individual ambulance trusts, using Crown Commercial Services framework contracts. Through this process, the ambulance trusts receiving funding are planning to purchase either Fiat or Mercedes base vehicles. The conversion- which typically constitutes a much larger cost than purchase of the base vehicle- is contracted by individual trusts. Currently trusts use six converters and four of the six are United Kingdom registered companies, based upon the contracting arrangements put in place by ambulance trusts locally. Lord Carter of Coles is currently undertaking an independent review of the operational productivity of ambulances services, including the effectiveness of fleet and variations in ambulance specification and procurement. This review is due to conclude and make recommendations shortly. Any of the 256 ambulances which are not planned to be operational by winter will be procured under arrangements which reflects any changes made in response to Lord Carter’s recommendations, which will require one specification of ambulance to be used by all ten ambulance trusts.

Prostate Cancer

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve the provision of high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy in the NHS for prostate cancer patients.

Steve Brine: NHS England is aware of some trials using high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy for prostate cancer happening across the country, some of which are in partnership with National Health Service trusts. They will monitor the outcomes of these trials. This is not something that is routinely commissioned by NHS England, however, and clinical commissioning groups and providers are encouraged to commission services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.

Asthma

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating additional funding from the public purse to research into diagnostic tests for potential asthma sufferers.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department funds research mainly through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The usual practice of the NIHR and other research funders is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics and welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including asthma. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. As usual practice is not to ring-fence funds for particular topics an assessment will not be made into diagnostic tests for potential asthma sufferers unless a funding application has been received. The NIHR Clinical Research Network is available to support the set-up and timely delivery of commercial and non-commercial studies and trials in England which would include studies on diagnostic tests and treatments for asthma. In 2016-17, the NIHR Clinical Research Network supported 176 studies and clinical trials related to asthma in the National Health Service with a total expenditure of £12,046,815. Of those studies, over 100 were commercial contract or collaborative studies undertaken with industry.

Measles

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of measles there have been in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: Data on the number of measles cases in England and Wales can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-confirmed-cases/confirmed-cases-of-measles-mumps-and-rubella-in-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013 In addition, between 1 January 2018 and 6 July 2018 there have been 757 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England; further information can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/measles-outbreaks-across-england

Asthma

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with asthma in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: We do not hold this information centrally.

Smoking

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that people who smoke are aware of the health risks caused by smoking.

Steve Brine: Alerting the public to the serious risks of smoking, and supporting smokers to quit, are priorities for Public Health England (PHE) and are at the centre of the Government’s Tobacco Control Plan for England, published last year. PHE runs a programme of smoking cessation marketing activity including an annual television and digital advertising campaign focused on tobacco health harms. Information on the harms smoking tobacco causes is available on the Smokefree website and via the Smokefree National Helpline. Further information on PHE’s smoking cessation campaigns, including the harm caused by smoking, is available at the following link: www.nhs.uk/smokefree PHE provides clinical tools and blogs to support health professionals to advise their patients about the risks of smoking. PHE also supports Health Education England and the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training, which provide a range of resources and guidance to help people stop smoking.

Depressive Illnessess

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with clinical bodies on the relationship between people experiencing anxiety and their being diagnosed with depression.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department engages closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including clinical bodies, on a variety of issues relating to mental health to seek their views and to help inform its policy and decision making processes.

General Practitioners: Foreign Nationals

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to recruit more GPs from overseas to the NHS.

Steve Brine: In August 2017, NHS England announced an expansion to the existing international general practitioner (GP) recruitment programme to secure at least 2,000 appropriately qualified doctors from overseas by 2020. This will build on the learning gathered through the four pilot sites. To support increased GP recruitment to the National Health Service from overseas, NHS England have taken the following steps: - Established an international recruitment framework, to make it easier to contract with recruitment agencies to source candidates;- Appointed recruitment agencies to begin sourcing candidates from European Economic Area countries to work in areas of greatest need across England;- Produced materials for recruitment agencies to use to promote the local areas being recruited to, and highlight the benefits of living and working in England;- Developing a focussed communications and marketing strategy to attract overseas GPs to work in England;- Contracted with companies to provide English language training to help doctors reach the level required to work in the United Kingdom; and- Building on feedback from the pilot sites, they have also developed a tailored learning and development pathway for international GPs supportive including induction/observer placement in a practice working with an assigned clinical supervisor. In July 2018, the Government lifted the cap on Tier 2 visas for doctors and nurses. This means there should be no longer any risk of visas being denied for international GPs because they have breached the cap.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Ecstasy

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on the use of the drug MDMA as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Steve Brine: No discussions have taken place between my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Royal College of Nursing on the use of the drug MDMA as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Disability: Children

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of health and social care services for disabled children.

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of waiting times for disabled children to access health and social care services in each of the last five years.

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of the level of funding allocated to the provision of (a) equipment and (b) treatment for disabled children.

Caroline Dinenage: The commissioning of health and social care services is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups and local authorities respectively. Local commissioners are best placed to assess the needs of the local population, and commission accordingly. While waiting times for accessing some individual services for children are reported, there is no overall waiting time measure for access to services for disabled children. Information is collected on wheelchair services; the latest published data for quarter four 2017/18 shows 82% of children whose episode of care was closed in that period received their equipment in 18 weeks or less. NHS England is working with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to understand what is contributing to waits above 18 weeks, and consider what actions will help to reduce these. In 2014, the Government introduced a new statutory framework requiring local authorities and CCGs to commission jointly services for children with special educational needs and disability, across health, social care and education. Since 2014, £327 million has been given to local areas to support implementation of these new arrangements, in addition to the high needs budget for placements for pupils with complex special educational needs which is £6 billion this year – the highest it has ever been. Every local area’s arrangements are being inspected jointly by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, in addition to their role inspecting providers. The 2015 Spending Review made available more than £200 billion until 2020 for councils to deliver services to local communities, including for provision of social care services for disabled children. The Government is conducting a review of the relative needs and resources of local authorities that will develop a robust, up-to-date approach to distributing funding across all local authorities in England at Local Government Finance Settlements, including for children’s services.

Diabetes: Greater London

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of people who were diagnosed with diabetes in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) Bexley Borough and (c) London in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: Information is available on the number of people who were diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 and other diabetes in each of the five calendar years 2012 to 2016 in Bexley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and London clinical network and can be found in the following tables. Bexley CCGCalendar yearNewly diagnosed with type 1 diabetesNewly diagnosed with type 2 and other diabetes201240790201325755201425670201535700201630775 London Clinical NetworkCalendar yearNewly diagnosed with type 1 diabetesNewly diagnosed with type 2 and other diabetes201294526,565201394528,415201494528,34520151,10532,51520161,19036,080 Notes:The National Diabetes Audit (NDA) provides a comprehensive view of diabetes care in England and Wales and measures the effectiveness of diabetes healthcare against National institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Clinical Guidelines and NICE Quality Standards. In 2016-17, 95.3% of all general practitioner practices in England and Wales participated in the audit.The NDA does not hold comprehensive data on all children with diabetes.Diabetes type is reported as ‘Type 1’ and ‘Type 2 and other’ within the NDA.- ‘Type 1’ includes where a person is recorded as having type 1 diabetes in the NDA.- ‘Type 2 and other’ includes where a person is recorded as having type 2 diabetes, Maturity-onset Diabetes of the Young, other or non-specified diabetes in the NDA.Figures are based on people who appear in the 2016-17 NDA who have a primary care record and a new diagnosis of diabetes in the relevant calendar year.Disclosure control has been applied to all figures, as per the NDA publication - all numbers are rounded to the nearest 5, unless the number is 1 to 7, in which case it is rounded to ‘5’.London clinical network is a group of 32 CCGs in the Greater London area.

Veterinary Medicine

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many veterinary surgeons from (a) non-UK EU member states and (b) non-EU member states have left their employment in UK abattoirs after the referendum on 23 June 2016; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: No veterinary surgeons based in or who frequently visit United Kingdom abattoirs have left the employment of the Food Standards Agency since 23 June 2016.

NHS: Negligence

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spend from the public purse by the NHS in defending court cases in each year since 2010.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS has spent from the public purse in compensation payouts in each year since 2010-11.

Stephen Barclay: Regarding spend defending court cases since 2010, the National Health Service has been interpreted as NHS providers and commissioners. This includes NHS trusts, NHS foundation trusts and NHS England and clinical commissioning groups. Spend on legal fees in the NHS is shown in the following table: YearTotal legal fees (£000s)2013-14110,7472014-15171,8062015-16162,2732016-17172,135 Expenditure on legal fees is not analysed by the purpose of the fees, and it is therefore not possible to provide a further breakdown to isolate costs incurred relating to the defence of court cases. Prior to 2013-14 expenditure on legal fees was not separately classified by primary care trusts, strategic health authorities who both carried out NHS commissioning and NHS trusts. Therefore comparable information pre 2013-14 is unavailable. There is no specific category of expenditure that isolates spend relating to compensation payouts in the NHS. Therefore NHS spend on compensation payouts has been interpreted as the utilisation of provisions raised by NHS Litigation Authority, whose operating name is NHS Resolution. NHS Resolution is responsible for handling negligence claims on behalf of NHS bodies. The indemnity schemes managed by NHS Resolution relate to both clinical and non-clinical schemes. The unwinding of provisions raised within the NHS Resolution managed indemnity schemes is shown in the following table: Financial YearTotal NHS Resolution Provisions Unwound £000s2010-11911,3792011-121,329,7612012-131,309,4792013-141,244,1132014-151,223,0202015-161,547,8242016-171,764,660

In Vitro Fertilisation

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many embryos (a) have been transferred, (b) are still in storage and (c) have been destroyed from IVF cycles in which fewer than 10 eggs were collected for each year from 2014 to 2017.

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many embryos (a) have been transferred, (b) are still in storage and (c) have been destroyed from IVF cycles in which fewer than 15 eggs were collected for each year from 2014 to 2017.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is shown in the following tables: All cycles, both Stimulated and UnstimulatedWhere less than 10 eggs were collected in the originating cycleYear of fresh Egg Collection / originating cycleEmbryos Created from cycles where less than 10 and greater than 0 eggs were collectedNumber of embryos transferredNumber of embryos still in storageNumber of embryos allowed to perish201480,01338,7445,24535,977201580,54537,5017,24835,622201683,08436,5109,65736,778201780,13431,62012,87535,558 All cycles, both Stimulated and UnstimulatedWhere less than 15 eggs were collected in the originating cycleYear of fresh Egg Collection / originating cycleEmbryos Created from cycles where less than 15 and greater than 0 eggs were collectedNumber of embryos transferredNumber of embryos still in storageNumber of embryos allowed to perish2014162,53862,36913,61586,4332015164,74160,52218,23085,7562016166,17557,49223,53284,9902017162,15048,97231,41481,637Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Notes: Data held on the HFEA register as at 11 July 2018. The information provided does not include a small number of embryos, under 2%, which move between clinics. “All cycles” includes all reasons for the in vitro fertilisation cycle taking place, including treatment, egg share, donation, research, egg storage, embryo storage and undefined reasons.

NHS: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he takes to ensure that drugs are sold to the NHS at a price which represents value for money to the public purse.

Steve Brine: The costs of branded medicines are controlled by the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme and the statutory scheme for branded medicines. For unbranded generic medicines, the Department encourages competition between suppliers to keep prices down. In primary care, community pharmacies are incentivised to source products at the lowest possible cost and in secondary care competitive tenders ensure value-for-money to the National Health Service. Recent research published in the Milbank Quarterly demonstrated that the United Kingdom pays considerably less for unbranded generic medicines than other countries with a comparable income level.

Breast Cancer: Genetics

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has recently had discussions with the Royal College of Nursing on the link between BRCA genes and breast cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: No such discussions have taken place.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to provide targeted support for people over the age of 55 who have problems with alcohol.

Steve Brine: Local authorities are responsible for commissioning effective drug and alcohol prevention and treatment services based on an assessment of local need. Public Health England (PHE) supports local authorities in this work, by providing bespoke data, value for money tools, topical briefings, and advice on good practice to help local authorities meet the needs of their local population, including older people. PHE is engaged in a series of work programmes that aim to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related problems and help provide support to older people, such as advocating the national roll out of an alcohol misuse screening question that has been part of the NHS Health Check since 2013. The NHS Health Check is offered to three million 40-74 year olds per year. In addition, the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers have produced new low risk drinking guidelines which provide the public with the latest information about the health risks of different levels and patterns of drinking. The guidelines enable people to make informed choices about their drinking. The guidelines are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-consumption-advice-on-low-risk-drinking We are aware of the evidence showing an increase in the level of alcohol drinking by older people. A new alcohol strategy is currently being developed and we will be considering what actions need to be taken to support all vulnerable groups. Officials will be engaging with stakeholders in the development of the strategy to identify and support these groups.

Ovarian Cancer

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to authorise a national clinical audit of ovarian cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase ovarian cancer survival rates.

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the level of early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) has been funded by cancer charities to pilot and assess the feasibility of an ovarian cancer audit, this pilot will take place over the next two years. Since early diagnosis increases survival outcomes, NHS England is working to diagnose cancer earlier and faster. This is particularly important for cancers like ovarian, where early diagnosis makes a huge difference in survival. We are developing new models of care and pathways that will transform services by speeding up diagnosis. This includes the commitment to roll out a new Faster Diagnosis Standard by 2020 to ensure that patients referred for an investigation with a suspicion of cancer are diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days. NHS England has also committed more than £200 million in cancer services between 2017 and 2019, to accelerate diagnosis, improve survival and enhance quality of life. NHS England is introducing Rapid Diagnostic and Assessment Centres which will operate as one-stop shops to reduce time-to diagnosis and time-to-first treatment. This is a real step change in the way people with unclear symptoms are identified, diagnosed and treated. General practitioners can refer patients suffering from vague symptoms. NHS England is also delivering the largest single upgrade in National Health Service cancer treatment for the last 15 years. The £130 million radiotherapy modernisation programme is upgrading and replacing radiotherapy equipment in hospitals across England. Through this programme, patients will have access to the most modern, innovative radiotherapy techniques to create better health outcomes and improve patient experience. The Department is also closely working with PHE to develop an approach to raise awareness of generic symptoms that can indicate a wider number of cancers, including ovarian cancer, and the need to visit the doctor promptly with these symptoms. PHE also ran a regional pilot ovarian campaign in the North West of England from 10 February to 16 March 2014. The campaign’s key message was ‘Feeling bloated, most days, for three weeks or more could be a sign of ovarian cancer. Tell your doctor’.

Cystic Fibrosis

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to exempt people with Cystic Fibrosis from prescription charges.

Steve Brine: We have no current plans to review the list of medical conditions which provide for exemption from prescription charges because arrangements exist to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone. A broad range of prescription charge exemptions are in place, for which someone with cystic fibrosis may qualify. To support those with greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption, prescription prepayment certificates are available. A holder of a 12 month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just £2 per week.

Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2018 to Question 130691, whether formal negotiations have begun on the next Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role will be played by NHS England in the re-negotiation of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what broad topics are being considered for negotiation with industry on the successor to the current Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme.

Steve Brine: The Government is committed to supporting the United Kingdom life sciences industry and ensuring that patients can access cost-effective innovative medicines and technologies at a price the National Health Service can afford. We have been listening to industry feedback and discussing how the medicines market is likely to evolve over the next five years. These discussions have now moved into a more formal phase and are commercially sensitive. The Government will update Parliament if and when agreement is reached. NHS England is involved in these negotiations.

Learning Disability

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of day centres for adults with complex learning abilities that have closed since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: Information on the number of day centres for adults with complex learning disabilities that have closed since 2010 is not available centrally.

Prostate Cancer

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on the provision of Focused Laser Ablation treatment for prostate cancer available on the NHS.

Steve Brine: Focused Laser Ablation treatment for prostate cancer is not within the scope of services commissioned by NHS England. We continue to encourage clinical commissioning groups and providers to offer services in line with the latest National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.

Hemel Hempstead Hospital

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2018 to Question 158194 on Hemel Hempstead Hospital, for what reason he does not have any plans to visit the Hemel Hempstead Hospital Site.

Stephen Barclay: The new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is currently considering his programme of visits.

Members: Correspondence

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Colne Valley that was sent on the 23 May and again on 12 June 2018 on ambulance response times.

Stephen Barclay: I replied to the hon. Member’s letters on 16 July.

Palliative Care: Children and Young People

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made the ability of the Government to meet its end of life care choice commitment to babies, children and young people by 2020.

Caroline Dinenage: In July 2016, the Government set out its commitment to everyone at the end of life in the Government response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care. Our Commitment to you for end of life care set out what everyone should expect from their care at the end of life and the actions we are taking to make high quality and personalisation a reality for all, both adults and children, and to end variation in end of life care across the health system by 2020. On 21 September 2017 we published One year on: the government response to the review of choice in end of life care, an assessment of the progress made in delivering this over the first year. Copies of the Choice Commitment and the progress report can be found at the following links: www.gov.uk/government/publications/choice-in-end-of-life-care-government-response www.gov.uk/government/publications/choice-in-end-of-life-care-government-progress Through the Mandate, we have asked NHS England to deliver the Choice Commitment, and working through NHS England’s National Programme Board for End of life Care with all key system partners and stakeholders, including the children’s end of life care charity Together for Short Lives. In the 2017-18 Mandate we asked for the identification of metrics to assess quality and choice in end of life care. As a result, we have in place a new indicator to measure the proportion of people with three or more emergency admissions in their final 90 days of life, which will help us assess how well patients with end of life care needs are being supported by local health and care services out of hospital and in the community. For 2018-19, the Government’s Mandate asks NHS England to increase the percentage of people identified as likely to be in their last year of life, so that their end of lifecare can be improved by personalising it according to their needs and preferences at an earlier stage. NHS England will use the Quality Outcomes Framework to demonstrate such an increase by looking at the percentage of people who are on the general practitioner register for supportive and palliative care, and consider expected levels based on local populations. Further work will also be undertaken to develop indicators that will enable NHS England to assess the effectiveness of local health economies in delivering choice and quality in end of life care in line with the Government’s commitment. NHS England knows that it can be difficult for some commissioners to develop suitable commissioning models for children with palliative and end of care needs, given the relatively small number of children concerned and their geographical spread. NHS England has established a Task and Finish Group to bring together knowledge and expertise in children’s end of life care to consider the development of commissioning models suitable for this vulnerable group of patients. The group met for the first time on 31 May 2018.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many BAME women by age group were detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 in 2016-17.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not collected in the format requested. The following table shows the number detentions of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women detained under the Mental Health Act, by age group, 2016/17Number of detentions of BAME women between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017All ages3,597 15 and under2716-176018-341,30635-491,24150-6467765 and over286Source: Mental Health Services Dataset - NHS Digital Notes: Counts of events and people produced from the new data sources in 2016/17 are incomplete and should not be compared to previous years. The Background Data Quality Report provides further information on these issues and is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-act-statistics-annual-figures/mental-health-act-statistics-annual-figures-2016-17-experimental-statistics A person may be detained more than once during the period so this is a count of detentions not people.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) women and (b) men by age group were detained under sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in 2016-17.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not collected in the format requested. The following table shows the number of detentions of men and women under Section 135 and Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, by age group, 2016/17Number of detentions under Section 135 and Section 136 between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017AllMaleFemaleUnknown All ages11,5386,0514,2841,203 15 and under121427916-1724811513318-344,9732,9691,999535-493,2131,8951,312650-641,491865623365 and over301165136Unknown1,19121,189Source: Mental Health Services Dataset - NHS DigitalNotes:Counts of events and people produced from the new data sources in 2016/17 are incomplete and can not be compared to previous years. The Background Data Quality Report provides further information on these issues and is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-act-statistics-annual-figures/mental-health-act-statistics-annual-figures-2016-17-experimental-statistics A person may be detained more than once during the period so this is a count of detentions not people.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department holds information on the number of women and men who were primary carers at the time they were detained under the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983 in 2016-17; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is not collected.

National Prison Healthcare Board

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the National Prison Healthcare Board was created; how many times that Board has met; and how many times (a) Ministers and (b) officials from his Department have attended meetings of that Board.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many officials from his Department represent it on the National Prison Healthcare Board.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The National Prison Healthcare Board for England was established by the Ministry of Justice in 2013. Separate arrangements exist for Wales.The Board oversees the National Partnership for Prison Healthcare in England 2018-2021 at official level and Ministers do not therefore attend. Separate arrangements exist for the briefing of Ministers on relevant issues.Since 2013, the Board has met approximately every three months. Information on the number of officials attending the National Prison Healthcare Board for England is not held centrally. Therefore obtaining this information would be at disproportionate cost.The Deputy Director for Mental Health Justice and Legislation is a permanent member of the National Prison Healthcare Board; other officials from the Department of Health and Social Care may attend when required.

Prisons: Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many officials from his Department work exclusively on prison healthcare.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prisons: Domestic Visits

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many officials from his Department have made visits to prisons in the last 12 months.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prisons: Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Minister of his Department is responsible for prison healthcare, and how many times that Minister has visited prisons in the last 12 months.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Drugs: Prices

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to reduce the cost to the NHS of reimbursement prices for special medicinal products; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: Since 2011 for the most commonly prescribed special medicinal products, known as “specials”, a reimbursement price is listed in the Drug Tariff. We have continued to expand the number of products for which there is a reimbursement price listed in the Drug Tariff, thus reducing the cost and the variation in what the National Health Service pays. Since these reimbursement arrangements were introduced in 2011 we have observed that in England the average cost for specials listed in the Drug Tariff decreased by 58% between 2011 and first quarter of 2018. We have taken powers in the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Act 2017, which enable the Government to reimburse for specials dispensed in primary care in different ways such as considering quotes of suppliers and not reimbursing pharmacies at all if, for example, they have been provided the medicine by a central service. We are developing proposals, which will be subject to consultation with relevant stakeholders.

Autism

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of post-diagnostic support for people who are diagnosed with autism at age 25 or over.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average autism diagnosis waiting time was for (a) children under the age of 18 and (b) people aged 18 or over by gender in each year since 2012.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average autism diagnosis waiting time was for (a) children under the age of 18 and (b) people aged 18 or over by ethnicity in each year since 2012.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in (a) the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency, (b) the London Borough of Southwark and (c) the London Borough of Lambeth have been diagnosed with autism by gender in each of the last five years.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people by gender who have a diagnosis of autism have been in hospital for more than two years.

Caroline Dinenage: We know that approximately half a million people in England are estimated to have an autism spectrum disorder, but data is not collected centrally on how many people aged 25 or over have received a formal diagnosis, or the level of support they receive. Data is likewise not collected centrally on the numbers of people diagnosed in a particular constituency or local authority area. Data on autism diagnosis waiting times has started to be collected centrally by NHS Digital from April this year as part of the Mental Health Services Data Set. The first annual report of this data will be published during 2019. As at 31 May 2018, 565 people with an autistic spectrum condition have been in hospital continuously for more than two years, in an inpatient bed for mental and/or behavioural healthcare needs. Of these people, 460 are male and 100 are female.

Department for International Development

Sudan: Politics and Government

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the political and economic situation in the Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: Sudan faces a number of economic challenges. While US economic sanctions were lifted in late 2017, Sudan remains a challenging place to do business. The economic situation has been exacerbated by a shortage of foreign exchange which has resulted in fuel shortages. Sudan is still unable to access international financial assistance, in part due to its arrears to the International Monetary Fund and others and the failure to service its debt. Politically, the UK continues to work with the Government of Sudan to ensure that constitutional and political rights are respected. Sudan remains a Human Rights Priority Country for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The UK continues to encourage Sudan to undertake macroeconomic and political reforms, including through the six-monthly Strategic Dialogue with the Government of Sudan.

South Sudan: Females

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has allocated to programmes to prevent (a) rape, (b) child marriage and (c) suicide in relation to adolescent girls in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: Ongoing conflict in South Sudan has been characterised by appalling levels of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), including the pervasive use of rape as a weapon or war. In addition to conflict, underlying social practices such as intimate partner violence, and child and forced marriage, also continue to have a severe impact on South Sudan’s women and girls. According to a recent Plan International UK survey, 26 percent of adolescent girls interviewed have considered ending their own lives.Through DFID, the UK is funding a four year, £14 million programme with the International Medical Corps, which includes a significant element for addressing SGBV; it reached over 387,000 women, girls, men, and boys with interventions in 2017.DFID is also providing support to women and girls through our contributions to South Sudan’s health and education sectors: we are the lead donor to the Health Pooled Fund, through which we are supporting 800 frontline health centres across the country; in addition, the Girls Education in South Sudan programme supports over 3,600 schools, helping to keep a quarter of a million girls in class. From 2018 to 2024, the UK will support up to 300,000 girls with cash transfers, helping them to stay in school longer and combating incentives for child and forced marriage.

Nigeria: Violence

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is providing to Nigerian communities affected by violence caused by (a) armed Fulani herders and (b) Boko Haram.

Harriett Baldwin: We are deeply concerned by the suffering caused by ‎inter-communal violence between farmers and herders in Nigeria, with several serious clashes in recent weeks. We have raised our concerns over the violence at Federal, State and Local government level, as well as with religious leaders and advocacy groups. We continue to call for a solution that meets the needs of all the communities affected. DFID has supported a number of initiatives that have brought communities together and provided livelihoods and economic opportunities in the affected areas. DFID also provides significant support to communities in the north-east affected by the Boko Haram conflict and is one of the leading international donors to the humanitarian response, delivering urgent aid to save lives and minimise suffering. DFID is investing £300 million over five years, reaching one million people in 2017/18 alone with life-saving food assistance, 532,000 with clean water and 196,000 with healthcare.

Developing Countries: Equality

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what mechanisms the Government plans to use to analyse progress on implementing Sustainable Development Goal 5 for the Voluntary National Review in 2019.

Alistair Burt: Work on developing the UK’s 2019 Voluntary National Review is ongoing. We will be drawing on a range of sources, including:the UN’s global indicator framework for measuring global progress towards the SDGs;the UK’s Office for National Statistics’ National Reporting Platform on UK data for the SDGs;Single Departmental Plans in which government departments have embedded the SDGs; anddepartmental Annual Reports and Accounts in which departments are expected to report progress towards the SDGs. We will continue to consult with a range of key stakeholders as we finalise our plans, including launching an online consultation to ensure we capture a wide range of views and inputs.

Developing Countries: Equality

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that it collects data from vulnerable and marginalised groups when evaluating progress on implementing Sustainable Development Goal 5 for the Voluntary National Review in 2019.

Alistair Burt: Work on developing the UK’s 2019 Voluntary National Review is ongoing. We will be drawing on a range of sources to collect data and information, and will ensure that a wide range of partners and stakeholders have an opportunity to contribute to the review, including launching an online consultation to capture as many views and suggestions as possible.

Developing Countries: Equality

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what form of consultation the Government plans to conduct with civic society to measure progress on Sustainable Development Goal 5 for the Voluntary National Review in 2019.

Alistair Burt: Work on developing the UK’s 2019 Voluntary National Review is ongoing and we are consulting with a range of key stakeholders to finalise these plans. The Government will ensure that a wide range of partners and stakeholders, including civil society organisations, have an opportunity to contribute to the review, and intend to launch an online consultation to capture as many views and suggestions as possible.

Department for Education

Children: Obesity

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education,  with reference to the Government Guidance on Childhood obesity: a plan for action, updated on 20 January 2017, how funding generated from the sugar levy will be integrated into that action plan; and how such activity will be reported and monitored.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Childhood Obesity Plan committed to use the revenue from the soft drinks industry levy to invest in programmes to reduce obesity and encourage physical activity and balanced diets for school age children. In September 2017, we announced that we would use that revenue to double funding for the Primary PE and Sport Premium to £320 million a year. Schools are required to report on their websites how they have used their premium to deliver sustainable improvements to PE and school sport. The government has committed a further £100 million of revenue generated from the levy for the Healthy Pupils Capital Fund in 2018-19. This fund is intended to improve children’s and young people’s physical and mental health by enhancing access to facilities for physical activity, healthy eating, mental health and wellbeing and medical conditions. Responsible bodies and institutions who receive a Healthy Pupils Capital Fund allocation or have bid successfully for funding through the Condition Improvement Fund must report on use of the funding using the same processes for school capital allocations. The government is using £26 million from the levy to fund a breakfast club programme between 2017-18 and 2019-20. Family Action, in partnership with Magic Breakfast are leading the programme. They will report to the department who will monitor progress as well as ensure the aims and objectives are being met. Family Action have also appointed an evaluator to conduct an evaluation for the innovation projects and they will also report on the larger scaling up of the Breakfast Club Services. We are investing £22 million from the levy in an Essential Life Skills programme in the 12 Opportunity Areas to enable disadvantaged children aged 5-18 to participate in regular extra-curricular activities, including sporting activities, to develop essential life skills. The department is working with Opportunity Areas to monitor the overall impact of the different activities that they are engaged in.

Special Educational Needs: Hearing Impairment

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the 15 May 2018 report of the National Deaf Children's Society on reductions in financial support for the education of deaf children, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of that support for those children.

Nadhim Zahawi: In relation to reductions in financial support for the education of deaf children and the adequacy of support for those children, I refer the hon. Member for Leeds North West to the answer I gave on 14 June 2018 to Question 152124.

Education: Finance

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information he holds on the average funding per pupil in (a) 11-16 schools, (b) sixth forms and sixth form colleges in the state sector, (c) sixth form schools and colleges in the independent sector and (d) higher education in the latest year for which information is available.

Nick Gibb: Average per pupil funding in schools, sixth form colleges and higher education providers are determined by different funding streams, and comprise both core per student allocations and different dedicated sources that are less easy to present on a per pupil basis.The average per pupil funding for 11-16 schools in England is £5,228.74[1]The average per pupil funding for 16-19 year olds in schools and sixth form colleges can be found in the below table: 2017-18[2]Schools and Academies£4,443 Sixth Form Colleges£4,498  The Government does not generally fund children in Independent schools, and as such the information requested on per pupil funding in those settings is not held centrally.Eligible universities and colleges are able to charge up to the maximum fee cap of £9,250, alongside committing to access and participation activity. Varying rates of grant funding apply for different purposes. For the accounting year 2016-17 £1.37 billion was distributed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (now the Office for Students) in support of teaching activity in higher education.[3]In the financial year 2016-17, the total amount lent through the Student Loans Company was £13.4 billion for tuition fees and maintenance for undergraduate students. The amount lent for Postgraduate Masters was £325 million. [4]  [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019 (This refers to funding allocated through the schools block of the DSG only. Schools will receive additional funding from other, dedicated sources, such as the pupil premium).[2] The above figures exclude high needs funding but include both full and part-time students, and allocations for the 16 to 19 bursary fund and free meals funding. [3] http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/HEFCE,2014/Content/Pubs/2016/201607/HEFCE2016_07.pdf.[4] https://www.slc.co.uk/media/9729/slcsfr012017.pdf. - The value of the Government’s contribution via Student Loan Company loans is contingent upon future repayments and interest rates.

Teachers: Ellesmere Port and Neston

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on how many and what proportion of teachers in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency have remained in the teaching profession (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) five years after their initial qualification.

Nick Gibb: Information on the retention of teachers in all state funded schools in England for the years up to November 2017 is available in Table 8 of the publication, ‘School Workforce in England, November 2017’ available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2017. This shows that after (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, and (e) five years the retention rates of qualified teachers nationally are (a) 85%, (b) 78%, (c) 73%, (d) 70% and (e) 67%. Information at constituency level is not available. The Department is aware that there are differences on teacher recruitment and retention at a sub-national level and has been doing more work to understand this. While information at sub national levels for 2016 and 2017 is not available, information is available on the number of qualified teachers entering and leaving the profession in English regions for the years 2010 to 2015. It is published as part of the statistical release, ‘Local analysis of Teacher Workforce: 2010 to 2015’: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-analysis-of-teacher-workforce-2010-to-2015. Tables 2.1a (secondary) and 2.1b (primary) show the wastage rates, by region in state funded schools for the years 2011 to 2015. Information for entrants is shown in Table 2.3a (secondary) and Table 2.3b (primary) of this publication. Comparable information at constituency level is not available.

Children: Day Care

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of two-year-olds in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency who have parents in receipt of universal credit and are eligible for 15 hours of free childcare.

Nadhim Zahawi: As of January 2018, the number of families in Cheshire West and Chester who are taking up the free early education entitlement for two year olds was 810. This is a take-up rate of 89%.Universal Credit (UC) is one of a number of eligibility criteria for the free early education entitlement for two year olds. This criteria also includes receipt of certain benefits, children looked after by a local authority, children who have left care, families in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or children with special educational needs or with an Education, Health and Care Plan.According to the most recent list of potentially eligible parents provided by the Department for Work and Pensions, 187 families would be eligible based on the Universal Credit Full Service eligibility criteria. This number does not include families on the Universal Credit Live Service as they are not included on the lists. We do not have figures broken down by constituency level.UC is partially rolled out in Cheshire West and Chester, as it is used by approximately 75% of Job Centres. It will be fully rolled out in July.

Teachers: Recruitment

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the public sector pay freeze on levels of recruitment and retention in the teaching profession.

Nick Gibb: The public sector pay cap is no longer in place and the Department has adopted a more flexible approach to public sector pay. The Remit letter from my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) said that the STRB should utilise this flexibility to target the next pay award to promote recruitment and retention. Research suggests that pay is not the main driver of teachers leaving, and teachers do not tend to leave for better paid jobs. The fundamental changes to teachers’ pay that have been introduced over the last four years following the STRB’s recommendations have given greater autonomy to schools to decide how to reward their staff. This increased flexibility helps schools to attract and retain the best teachers and to target any school-level recruitment and retention problems they may have, including addressing teacher shortages in specific subjects.

Children: Social Services

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made for the (a) quality, (b) availability and (c) adequacy of funding of social services for disabled children.

Nadhim Zahawi: I refer the right hon. Member for East Antrim to the answer I gave on 4 July 2018 to Question 159051.

Adoption

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times local authority children's services departments have put children up for adoption against the wishes of their parents in each year for which information is available.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department does not collect data on specific adoption circumstances.Information on those children placed for adoption, where consent is dispensed by the court, is published annually in Table D1 of the statistical release 'Children looked after in England including adoption: 2016 to 2017' at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2016-to-2017. These are circumstances where the court can dispense without the consent of a parent to the placement and adoption of their child if the welfare of the child requires it. This may be a decision in some situations that does not accord with the wishes of the parents. The welfare of a child is paramount and local authorities have a statutory duty to intervene to undertake child protection enquiries and to take action to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare. However, decisions on adoption are ultimately taken by an independent judge based on the evidence presented.

Graduates: Databases

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what use officials in his Department are making of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes database.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to make data from the Longitudinal Education Outcomes database available to education researchers outside his Department.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The department has published seven statistical first releases and one ad hoc release for graduate employment outcomes using Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data. These cover the employment outcomes for undergraduates and postgraduates one, three, five and 10 years after graduating. Figures are published at institution and subject level as well as national level. These publications are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-higher-education-graduate-employment-and-earnings.Students’ ability to make informed choices is at the heart of the higher education (HE) reform agenda. We are keen that these releases are easily accessible by HE students. We have therefore launched a Higher Education Open Data Competition, which is part of the work we are doing to improve the way we provide information to students.The competition aims to give students full access to valuable data on graduate outcomes - including aggregated, publically available LEO data - on an accessible and innovative digital platform.By supporting the development of new tools, the competition will help all applicants, regardless of their background, make decisions that are right for them and get value for money.We plan to make appropriate extracts of the data available in the ONS Secure Research Service, in late 2018.In addition to this, we currently make data available, under contract, to the following research groups:Centre for Vocational Education Research,Institute for Fiscal Studies,University of Westminster.

Vocational Education

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to put technical courses on parity with academic courses.

Anne Milton: The government is transforming technical education to create a high quality system that meets the skills needs of businesses and is held in the same high esteem as our academic option. 15 prestigious technical routes will set a clear path to skilled employment through reformed apprenticeships and the new flagship T Level programmes. T Levels are a central part of the greatest shake-up of technical education for 70 years and builds on the recommendations made by the Independent Panel on Technical Education, chaired by Lord Sainsbury. They will provide a distinctive and rigorous technical alternative to A levels.They are, however, just one strand of our ambitious new technical education offer. We also intend to undertake a review of qualifications at Level 3 and below so that those we fund serve a genuine and useful purpose, are of high quality and enable students to progress to meaningful outcomes.

Ministry of Justice

Trials: Evidence

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that there is a consistent standard in video surveillance systems and readers so that all CCTV recordings can be accessible to the police, security services and during criminal trials.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice does not hold this information, it is a matter for the Home Office.

Employment Tribunals Service

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many employment tribunal applications have been refused on the basis of being outwith the time limit in each of the last three years; and how many of those applications related to maternity or paternity discrimination.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 16 July 2018



Government began to collate data manually on out of time applications to the employment tribunals in England, Wales and Scotland, specifically where pregnancy / maternity discrimination is cited as a reason, in January of this year. Data has been collated manually, and Government has published figures for January to March 2018. In total over that period, 21 cases were received out of time citing pregnancy/maternity as the reason. All of these cases were accepted. Government has also been collecting data on all out of time application to the employment tribunals since April of this year. This would include cases brought on the grounds of suffering “a detriment and / or dismissal due to requesting or taking paternity or adoption leave or time off to assist a dependant”. The figures for this first quarter will be published on 13 September. This data referred to above has been collected manually, as the current IT systems do not facilitate this type of data capture. Obviously, a manual trawl of cases is time and resource intensive. Therefore, the figures may not be fully accurate, but are to the best of our knowledge.

Reoffenders

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) community or (b) equivalent orders each offender sent to prison in each of the last three years for less than 12 months had previously been given.

Rory Stewart: Holding answer received on 16 July 2018



There is persuasive evidence that short custodial sentences do not work in terms of rehabilitation and that community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective in reducing reoffending, and therefore keeping the public safe. The MoJ study ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, community orders and suspended sentence orders on re-offending’ published in 2015 found that over a 1-year follow up period, a higher proportion of people re-offended having been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of under 12 months without supervision on release than other similar people given community orders (around 3 percentage points). From centrally held data it is not possible to separately identify how many community or equivalent orders each offender sent to prison in each of the last three years for less than 12 months had previously been given, without incurring disproportionate cost.

Prison Officers: Sick Leave

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers have taken sick leave for reasons of mental health in each year from 2010.

Rory Stewart: HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of its staff, with all staff having access to a comprehensive occupational health service and employee assistance programme. The number of band 3-5 prison officers who have taken sickness absence due to mental and behavioural disorders since 2009/10 can be found in table 1 below. Table 1: Band 3-5 officers1 who have taken sickness absence due to mental & behavioural disorders2, 2009/10 to 2017/18 Headcount Financial yearBand 3-5 officers on sickness absence due to mental & behavioural disorders 2009/101,670 2010/111,609 2011/121,655 2012/131,620 2013/141,820 2014/151,617 2015/161,596 2016/1731,658 2017/1831,540 1 Includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.2 Absences are categorised according to the International Classification of Diseases, which is an approach used across the civil service.3 Between January and March 2017, during migration of data to the Single Operating Platform, an under-recording of sickness absence records occurred. Furthermore, investigations are ongoing regarding more recent sickness absence data so figures for the 12 months to 31 March 2018 should be treated with caution.

Divorce

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of divorces which have been refused in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: A decree nisi is the provisional decree of divorce pronounced when the court is satisfied that a person has met the legal and procedural requirements to obtain a divorce. The number and proportion of divorce petitions in which the court declined to grant a decree nisi in each of the last five years are as follows: YearDivorce petitions issuedDecree nisi not grantedProportion of all petitions201397,04420,46217%201494,84217,75916%201597,78216,78915%201698,33515,79114%201793,93415,41414% The court may decline to grant a decree nisi because there is insufficient evidence that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. Further evidence may then be submitted to the court and the court may decide to grant the decree. Information on how many rejected decrees nisi are granted subsequently could only be obtained from an analysis of court files at disproportionate cost.

Insurance: Motor Vehicles

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many ghost brokers have been prosecuted in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart: It is not possible to identify prosecutions involving ghost broking within the information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice. These offences are likely to be classified as fraud by false representation. This detailed information may be held on the court record but to be able to identify these offenders we would have to access individual court records which would incur disproportionate costs.

Civil Proceedings: Legal Aid Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil legal help provider offices there were in each quarter since March 2012.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil representation provider offices there were in each quarter since March 2012.

Lucy Frazer: The number of provider offices completing work by legal aid scheme is published in the National Statistics on legal aid in England and Wales at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/720553/legal-aid-statistics-tables-jan-mar-2018.ods (table 9.1)

Courts: Video Conferencing

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will carry out an impact assessment of the Government's virtual court proposals prior to their implementation.

Lucy Frazer: This government is investing over £1billion to reform and modernise the justice system – making it more convenient, easier to use, and provide better value for the taxpayer.Our new digital online services are being developed incrementally which means that we test and understand what people want and need at the very outset; and test implementation further through a series of pilots before taking a service to full implementation.In relation to fully video hearings, we have commissioned an independent process evaluation of our current pilot. This will be carried out by an academic from a London University who specialises in technology in a court environment. The evaluation will give us insight into the way people engage with the system, identify what is working well in the adoption of the service, and look at users’ experiences.

Prisons

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendations of the report, An alternative vision for prisons, published by the Public and Commercial Services Union in May 2018.

Rory Stewart: I welcome the publication of this report and share PCS’s commitment to improving rehabilitation and reducing reoffending among people released from our prisons. We look forward to ongoing work with HMPPS’s National Trade Union Side on this critical issue. Since ‘An Alternative Vision for Prisons’ was published we have launched both our Education and Employment Strategy on 24 May 2018, and our Female Offender Strategy on 27 June. The former sets out the Government’s approach to supporting ex-offenders to secure meaningful employment so that they are less likely to reoffend. Our new model for delivering education services in prisons will go live in April next year.The Female Offender Strategy sets out our commitment to a new programme of work for female offenders, driven by our ambition to see fewer women coming into the criminal justice system at all, and fewer of those that do ending up in custody. We also want to see more female offenders managed successfully in the community, along with better conditions for those in custody.Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office has introduced a new cross-government Reducing Reoffending group to address some of the main causes of reoffending including employment, health and accommodation. The Group met for the first time last month.Reoffending currently costs society around £15 billion per year. We know that most prisoners will be released from custody at some stage, and that through effective rehabilitation we can reduce the number of victims of crime in the future. We also know that effective rehabilitation needs prisoners to be willing to commit to change, take advice, learn new skills and take opportunities to work – both during their sentence and after.

Personal Independence Payment: Ellesmere Port and Neston

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many claimants of personal independence payments have been successful on appeal at tribunal in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency in the last year.

Lucy Frazer: The latest figures indicate that since PIP was introduced, more than 3.1 million decisions have been made, and of these only 4% were overturned at tribunals. Information about the outcomes for Social Security and Child Support appeals, including Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals, is published on gov.uk and can be viewed using the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not record data based on constituencies. First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) appeals are listed into the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. The published CSV files provide information about the outcomes of PIP appeals for individual hearing venues including Chester, where appeals from constituents living in the Ellesmere Port and Neston areas would be heard.

Leasehold and Commonhold

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress the Law Commission has made on its work on residential leasehold and commonhold.

Lucy Frazer: In December 2017, the Law Commission announced it was to start a project on residential leasehold and commonhold as part of its 13th Programme of Law Reform. In February 2018, a call for evidence on commonhold was published with a full consultation due later in the year. By the end of July, the Commission expects to publish enfranchisement solutions for leasehold houses, followed by a consultation on a new enfranchisement regime for leasehold houses and flats later in the year. In July MHCLG Ministers also asked the Law Commission to consider leaseholders’ Right to Manage. The Commission intends to publish a consultation paper on this in late 2018.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for the publication of the review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Lucy Frazer: The Government is currently undertaking a post-implementation review of the impact of the legal aid changes made under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) and remains committed to publishing the findings by the end of this year. On 7 March 2018, the Lord Chancellor announced the beginning of the engagement phase of the review. The first round of consultative group meetings took place in April 2018, to provide evidence which will inform the review process. The second round of consultative group meetings will take place this month. Officials within my Department will continue to meet with interested parties throughout the summer. It is important we take the time to deliver the review with the necessary analytical rigour that such an important piece of legislation deserves.

Civil Proceedings: Legal Aid Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) civil legal help and (b) civil representation provider offices there were in each legal aid area in each quarter since the first quarter of 2012.

Lucy Frazer: The number of provider offices completing work by legal aid scheme is published in the National Statistics on legal aid in England and Wales at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/720553/legal-aid-statistics-tables-jan-mar-2018.ods (table 9.1)

Family Conciliation Services

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he as made of the savings accrued to the public purse of  using family mediation as an alternative to court proceedings.

Lucy Frazer: Mediation can help reduce conflict, by avoiding potentially contentious court proceedings which can be harmful to children and affect their long-term outcomes. The potential benefits of early resolution of family disputes, including through mediation, are therefore long term, wide ranging and potentially affect a number of government services. The evidence necessary to establish these system wide impacts, and therefore estimate any savings generated, is not currently available. I am clear that the Government remains committed to supporting mediation for separating couples. Where it is safe and appropriate, mediation is an effective way of resolving disputes about finances and children. We are working to improve information and signposting to raise awareness of mediation and to encourage more separating couples to try it.

Prisons: Capital Investment

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his speech of 10 July 2018 to the Centre for Social Justice, which prisons will receive the additional investment of £16,000,000; and how much of that money will be spent in each prison.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his speech of 10 July 2018 to the Centre for Social Justice, what steps his Department is taken to ascertain whether the £16,000,000 investment in 11 prisons represents value for money to the public purse; and what steps are being taken to make contracts transparent on the work undertaken.

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his speech of 10 July 2018 to the Centre for Social Justice, what standards his Department plans for the £16,000,000 investment in 11 prisons to improve by prison receiving investment.

Rory Stewart: While details are still being finalised, we are focusing on the prisons with the most pressing needs. The works under consideration include refurbishment of poor-quality cellular accommodation, life-expired shower facilities and life-expired food service areas to meet expected standards of decency and hygiene, as well as up-grades to fire safety systems. In procuring these works our aim will be to achieve a good standard of delivery at a fair price for the taxpayer. Contract details will be made publicly available via the Ministry’s transparency returns in the usual way.

Prisons: Drugs

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his speech of 10 July 2018 to the Centre for Social Justice,  if he will break down the £6,000,000 investment into counter-narcotics by (a) training expenditure, (b) detection equipment and (c) security improvements.

Rory Stewart: The funding cannot easily be divided into these three categories. The £6m investment into enhancing prison security will predominantly be spent on developing and implementing new technologies to improve the detection of drugs and other contraband. This includes body scanners and mobile phone blocking equipment which significantly assist Prison Officers’ work to reduce drugs and other illicit items coming into prisons. The investment in detection equipment will support general security improvements across the prison estate, and it will be backed by the training that prison staff need to be able to use that technology.

Parental Orders: Surrogate Motherhood

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department collects on parental orders and surrogate births; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring greater transparency of that data.

Lucy Frazer: In surrogacy cases, the family court can be asked to make a parental order to transfer legal parental responsibility from the birth mother, and her legally recognised partner if she has one, to the couple that the child will live with as its parents once it is born. The Department publishes figures for the number of children involved in parental orders, which are available in Family Courts Statistic Quarterly at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2018 under Table 4.

Ministry of Justice: Written Questions

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to Question 150069, on CCTV recordings, tabled by the hon. Member for Scunthorpe on 4 June 2018.

Lucy Frazer: I refer the honourable member to the answer of PQ 150069. This is a matter for the Home Office.

Magistrates' Courts

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the target time is for cases to be brought to resolution at magistrates' courts; and how many times that target has not been met in West Yorkshire in the last three years.

Lucy Frazer: HMCTS has not set specific target times for cases to be brought to resolution at magistrates’ courts – the process for which is under the control of the independent judiciary.

Doncaster Prison

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who is responsible for running HMP & YOI Doncaster.

Rory Stewart: HMP & YOI Doncaster is contractually managed by Serco. The site houses both adult and young adult (18-21 years old) offenders. Ministerial responsibility for those offenders, lie with the Prisons and Probation Minister, Rory Stewart OBE MP.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Legislation

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress his Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to ban (a) onerous ground rents and (b) the sale of new build leasehold houses.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for leaseholders and freeholders and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service.We will ban the unjustified use of leaseholds on new houses and we will bring forward legislation to do this at the earliest opportunity. Any new government funding scheme will contain the condition that the money cannot support the unjustified use of leasehold for new houses. We want to build more homes but not at any cost. This is an essential step to restore pride and dignity to homeowners everywhere.

Fire Prevention

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the names of freeholders who are not funding the removal of unsafe cladding.

Kit Malthouse: As of 14 June 2018, from the results of Building Research Establishment large-scale system tests and the information provided to us by local authorities we know of 297 private sector residential buildings with cladding systems that are unlikely to meet current Building Regulations guidance. Local authorities have told us about plans for remediating 72 buildings. Of these, 21 buildings have started remediation, of which 4 have completed.We publish the most recent testing programme figures every month in a data release. The latest figures can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-june-2018. We are considering what further information it may be appropriate to release.We have made it clear that we expect building owners and industry to explore all options to protect leaseholders from incurring the costs associated with replacing unsafe cladding. Some in the sector, such as Barratt Developments, Legal & General and Taylor Wimpey, are doing the right thing and taking responsibility. We want others to follow their ​lead and we will continue to encourage them to do so. We will consider where further action may be necessary if they do not.

Ground Rent

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the potential merits of (a) capping ground rents at a nominal sum and (b) reducing their value to zero.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: My Department has been engaging with a range of stakeholders as part of developing a detailed approach to implementing this policy, and is currently exploring various policy options. We will set out further details in due course.

Local Council Tax Support Schemes Independent Review

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the recommendations contained in the report from Mr Eric Ollerenshaw on Review of local council tax support schemes, published in March 2016, if he will commission research into the effect of local council tax support schemes on the budgets of other welfare programmes.

Rishi Sunak: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Second Homes: Holiday Accommodation

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of second homes in (a) each local authority and (b) England registered as holiday lets and for which small business rate relief has been claimed; what estimate he has made of the loss of revenue as a result of that relief; whether he plans to increase the minimum number of letting days to determine eligibility for that relief; whether his Department plans to review the effect of second homes and small business rate relief; and if he will make a statement.

Rishi Sunak: Holding answer received on 17 July 2018



Second homes are liable for council tax, not business rates. However, where a property is available for letting commercially for short periods totalling at least 140 days per year, then it will be assessed for business rates and added to the business rates list. As of June 2018, there were 47,307 holiday lets liable for business rates in England. The table below provides the figures by local authority. Small Business Rate Relief provides 100 per cent relief from business rates on properties with a rateable value of £12,000 or less, provided the business uses only one property (though relief may still be available under certain circumstances). The Department does not hold information on the number of recipients of Small Business Rates Relief by type of property.The 140-day rule is widely understood and provides a clear and stable method of deciding whether a property should be liable for council tax or business rates. In particular, it ensures that properties do not switch year-to-year between council tax and business rates merely due to success in letting out the property. It is right that genuine holiday lets, many of which are small businesses, should be able to apply for Small Business Rate Relief. However, the Government takes any concerns about possible council tax avoidance seriously, and is considering whether the criteria under which holiday lets are valued for business rates are appropriate. Local authorityNumber of holiday lets on the rating listAdur9Allerdale1,006Amber Valley78Arun102Ashfield5Ashford140Aylesbury Vale21Babergh118Barnsley23Barrow-in-Furness12Basildon12Basingstoke & Deane5Bassetlaw22Bath & North East Somerset260Bedford8Birmingham5Blackburn with Darwen3Blackpool187Bolsover10Bolton3Boston15Bournemouth69Bracknell Forest9Bradford146Braintree44Breckland153Brent1Brighton & Hove168Bristol72Broadland254Bromley1Bromsgrove12Broxbourne4Broxtowe3Burnley2Bury5Calderdale108Cambridge42Camden85Cannock Chase1Canterbury132Carlisle105Central Bedfordshire11Charnwood2Chelmsford7Cheltenham46Cherwell51Cheshire East76Cheshire West & Chester107Chesterfield9Chichester200Chiltern10Chorley7Christchurch44City of London2Colchester28Copeland204Corby1Cornwall8,033Cotswold678Coventry2Craven411Crawley1Croydon1Dacorum24Darlington33Dartford2Daventry20Derby1Derbyshire Dales836Doncaster9Dover181Durham424East Cambridgeshire27East Devon580East Dorset50East Hampshire27East Hertfordshire20East Lindsey764East Northamptonshire20East Riding of Yorkshire538East Staffordshire40Eastbourne66Eastleigh10Eden679Epping Forest2Erewash3Exeter29Fareham15Fenland16Forest Heath19Forest of Dean223Fylde40Gateshead23Gedling5Gloucester9Gosport2Great Yarmouth960Guildford4Halton1Hambleton198Hammersmith & Fulham1Harborough12Harrogate352Hartlepool4Hastings50Havant13Herefordshire464Hertsmere3High Peak225Hillingdon4Hinckley & Bosworth8Horsham57Huntingdonshire28Hyndburn4Ipswich10Isle of Wight893Isles of Scilly190Islington2Kensington & Chelsea34Kettering2King's Lynn & West Norfolk735Kingston-upon-Hull21Kirklees93Lambeth1Lancaster117Leeds57Leicester14Lewes59Lewisham2Lichfield8Lincoln53Liverpool193Luton33Maidstone55Maldon58Malvern Hills117Manchester42Mansfield1Medway3Melton16Mendip187Mid Devon210Mid Suffolk123Mid Sussex29Middlesbrough28Milton Keynes23Mole Valley10New Forest289Newark & Sherwood45Newcastle-under-Lyme10Newcastle-upon-Tyne36North Devon1,252North Dorset115North East Derbyshire86North East Lincolnshire16North Hertfordshire5North Kesteven67North Lincolnshire33North Norfolk1,886North Somerset84North Tyneside10North Warwickshire21North West Leicestershire8Northampton1Northumberland1,916Norwich77Nottingham32Oldham9Oxford15Pendle31Peterborough2Plymouth73Poole120Portsmouth23Preston20Purbeck388Reading176Redbridge3Redcar & Cleveland84Redditch1Reigate & Banstead4Ribble Valley88Richmondshire608Richmond-upon-Thames3Rochdale8Rochford1Rossendale6Rother286Rotherham2Rugby11Runnymede5Rushcliffe31Rutland84Ryedale413Salford2Scarborough1,950Sedgemoor184Sefton39Selby27Sevenoaks18Sheffield35Shepway103Shropshire614Slough1Solihull3South Bucks2South Cambridgeshire48South Derbyshire28South Gloucestershire41South Hams1,416South Holland8South Kesteven33South Lakeland2,177South Norfolk159South Northamptonshire11South Oxfordshire13South Ribble2South Somerset217South Staffordshire8South Tyneside8Southampton83Southend-on-Sea10Southwark1St Albans17St Edmundsbury53St Helens2Stafford26Staffordshire Moorlands261Stockport11Stockton-on-Tees36Stoke-on-Trent1Stratford-on-Avon236Stroud109Suffolk Coastal697Sunderland29Surrey Heath1Swale51Swindon10Tameside3Tandridge1Taunton Deane128Teignbridge403Telford & Wrekin41Tendring90Test Valley39Tewkesbury80Thanet130Tonbridge & Malling16Torbay418Torridge954Tower Hamlets4Tunbridge Wells59Uttlesford32Vale of White Horse20Wakefield11Wandsworth4Warrington4Warwick35Watford1Waveney505Waverley11Wealden198Wellingborough4Welwyn Hatfield4West Berkshire22West Devon208West Dorset782West Lancashire14West Lindsey75West Oxfordshire131West Somerset393Westminster44Weymouth & Portland273Wigan3Wiltshire274Winchester92Windsor & Maidenhead31Wirral11Woking9Wokingham1Wolverhampton1Worcester2Worthing14Wychavon135Wycombe7Wyre48Wyre Forest22York320

Temporary Accommodation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many households in temporary accommodation were placed out of area at the end of the January to March Quarter in each year since 1998.

James Brokenshire: MHCLG publishes regular statistics on temporary accommodation, including the number of households in temporary accommodation who were placed out of area. These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness

Homelessness: Domestic Violence

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of victims of domestic abuse who have (a) slept rough and (b) experienced homelessness in each of the last five years.

Nigel Adams: The Department does not hold information on the number of victims of domestic abuse who have slept rough and experienced homelessness in each of the last five years.However, we know that in 2017/18, 1,330 households were accepted as homeless with the primary reason of acceptance being that they were vulnerable as a result of having fled their home because of domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence. These statistics are available for each local authority area, and previous years at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness#detailed-local-authority-level-responsesDomestic abuse is a devastating crime that nobody should have to suffer. Supporting victims of domestic abuse is an absolute priority for this Government. Councils have a legal duty to provide accommodation to families and others who are vulnerable as a result of fleeing domestic abuse. The Homelessness Reduction Act requires councils to take reasonable steps for all eligible households who are homeless, to help them secure accommodation.We are overhauling the statutory homelessness data collection alongside the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act. This will give us better insights into the causes of homelessness and the support people need, including where someone is accepted as homeless because they were vulnerable as a result of having fled their home because of domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence, alongside other reasons for acceptance.We are also continuing to support the Women’s Aid Routes to Support and No Woman Turned Away projects, having already provided almost £889,000 between 2015 and 2018 for these projects. Routes to Support (formerly UK Refuges online) is part-funded by the Government and is a UK-wide online database containing information about domestic abuse and other violence against women services. No Woman Turned Away provides caseworker support to women facing difficulties in accessing refuge, including those at risk of or who have been sleeping rough or experiencing homelessness.We have also commissioned an audit of domestic abuse service delivery - being run by Ipsos MORI – to give us a picture of provision across England, enabling us to understand what impact services are having and to identify gaps in provision.

Housing: Overcrowding

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many households were registered as statutorily overcrowded in (a) Camberwell and Peckham, (b) Southwark and (c) London in each of the last 5 years.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Planning Permission: Fraud

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there is an equivalent offence in planning terms to treating in electoral law.

Kit Malthouse: Holding answer received on 17 July 2018



There is no equivalent offence in planning terms to treating, however the Localism Act 2011 requires local authorities to promote and maintain high standards of conduct for officers and elected officials through their own code of conduct. Local authorities must publish their code of conduct which requires officers and councillors to act in accordance with the seven 'Nolan' principles of standards in public life.

Ministry of Defence

Saudi Arabia: Cluster Munitions

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2017 to Question 111165 on Saudi Arabia: Cluster Munitions, for what reason the UK government ceased to make offers to Saudi Arabia to remove and destroy the Royal Saudi Airforces's inventory of BL755 cluster munitions after 2010.

Mark Lancaster: Saudi Arabia has made a commitment that it will not use BL-755 cluster munitions, which the UK welcomes. The Saudi Government is nevertheless aware that we would be willing to assist with the disposal of any remaining stocks. The UK also continues to encourage Saudi Arabia, as well as other non-parties, to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Syria: Military Intervention

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the causes of the damage to a Royal Air Force C-130J in operations against Daesh in Syria in August 2017; and whether any British service personnel were harmed in that operation.

Mark Lancaster: The Director General Defence Safety Authority has convened a Service Inquiry into the causes of the damage to an RAF Hercules C-130J. This is routine when aircraft are damaged beyond economic repair and it would be inappropriate to comment further whilst investigations are ongoing. I can however, confirm that no Service personnel were seriously injured.

Armed Forces: Housing

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 132273 on Ministry of Defence: Empty Property, whether any of those unoccupied houses are being used by his Department for training or exercises.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Unoccupied Ministry of Defence properties are not used for training or exercises.

Armed Forces: Housing

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 132273 on Ministry of Defence: Empty Property, what plans he has to return those house back to Annington Homes; and what estimate he has made of the dilapidation costs.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Under current plans, the Ministry of Defence will be returning three properties to Annington Homes during this financial year. There will be no dilapidation payments on these properties.

Gurkhas: Pensions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the pension actuarially of Gurkha's who transferred to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme is 23 to 36 per cent for service that took place prior to 1st July 1997.

Mark Lancaster: To be eligible for the Gurkha Offer to Transfer (GOTT) in 2007/8, a Gurkha had to have served in the Army on or after 1 July 1997.The service credits applied under the GOTT to service pre-July 1997 were based on actuarial assumptions calculated by the Government Actuary's Department and accepted by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). This is normal practice across the public services for those transferring between pension schemes.The assumptions took into account differences in benefit structures between the Gurkha Pension Scheme and the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, including age on joining, length of service and mortality rates.Legal challenges to the terms of the GOTT, up to the European Court of Human Rights, were rejected, with MOD's view that the transfer terms were fair and reasonable being upheld.No pension value was removed from any Gurkha as a result of the GOTT.

Nigeria: Military Aid

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department is providing to security forces in Nigeria to tackle violence between different groups in the Middle Belt.

Mark Lancaster: Assistance provided by the Ministry of Defence to the Nigerian security forces is focussed on Nigerian efforts to counter the threat of terrorism in the North East of the country. The Ministry of Defence does not provide support specifically targeted at tackling the violence in the Middle Belt.

Nigeria: Military Aid

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department provides to improve the capacity of security services in Nigeria to reduce the amount of ungoverned space in that country.

Mark Lancaster: Assistance provided by the Ministry of Defence to the Nigerian security forces is focused on building capacity to counter the threat of terrorism in the North East of the country.

Nigeria: Security

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) transparency and (b) governance within the security forces in Nigeria.

Mark Lancaster: We continue to monitor transparency and governance within the security forces in Nigeria, and regularly assess the risks associated with the delivery of UK military assistance in line with the UK's Overseas Security and Justice Assessment guidance.

Defence: Modernisation

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral contribution of 9 July 2018, Official Report, column 690, when he plans for the substantive findings of the Modernising Defence Programme to be published.

Gavin Williamson: Holding answer received on 16 July 2018



We are aiming to share headline conclusions from the Modernising Defence Programme before the summer recess, with a further period of cross-Government analysis and discussion to continue into the autumn.

Defence: Finance

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral contribution of 9 July 2018, Official Report, column 690, what that £800 million has been spent on.

Gavin Williamson: I refer the hon. Member to the response given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 28 March 2018 to the hon. Member for Charnwood (Edward Argar) to Question 904646.



PMQs exchange on Financial Investment in Defence
(Word Document, 21.47 KB)

Defence: Modernisation

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral contribution of 9 July 2018, Official Report, column 690, for what reasons the Modernising Defence Programme's analysis of threats to the UK is not being informed by a new National Security Risk Assessment.

Gavin Williamson: The Modernising Defence Programme's analysis of threat has been informed by National Security Risk Assessment, among other considerations.

Navy: Expenditure

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much was spent by his Department on military personnel from each of the Royal Navy's (a) services and (b) branches in each year since 2010.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what was spent by his Department on military personnel from each of the Army's Regiments and Corps in each year since 2010.

Mark Lancaster: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. A breakdown of defence resources is published annually and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-departmental-resources-index

Royal Regiment of Scotland

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Order of Battle is of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Mark Lancaster: The units that form the Royal Regiment of Scotland are:The Royal Scots Borderers 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of ScotlandThe Royal Highland Fusiliers 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of ScotlandThe Black Watch 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of ScotlandThe Highlanders 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of ScotlandBalaklava Company, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland52nd Lowland 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland51st Highland 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland

Royal Regiment of Scotland

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the manpower establishment by rank and number is of each battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland; and what the manpower shortfall is for each such battalion.

Mark Lancaster: The table below shows the establishment and strength of each battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland:  Regimental Duty EstablishmentRegimental Duty Strength1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland2122202nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland5674413rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland5674604th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland are a mechanised infantry Battalion6374865th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland99846th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (Reserve)4123047th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (Reserve)412328 Notes/Caveats:Current strengths have been provided by Defence Statistics, establishment figures are a single source estimate. Regular figures are for trade trained Army and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves, but includes those personnel that have transferred from Gurkha Trained Adult Manpower to UK Trained Adult Population.Reserve figures are for trained FR20 Army only. The FR20 population consists of Group A Army Reserves, some Sponsored Reserves and those personnel serving on FTRS contracts who were previously Army Reservists.Regimental duty is defined as personnel serving in a regimental unit, for example, in the 1st Battalion.Establishment and strength data do not include attached personnel from other arms and corps, nor do they include personnel at extra regimental employment in posts away from their parent unit. Defence does not routinely publish establishment and strength data in further detail as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces

Military Aircraft: Procurement

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Defence Procurement of 9 July 2018, on Leaving the EU: Defence and Military Aerospace Industry, Official Report, column 694, when his Department plans to publish the Future Combat Air Strategy.

Mark Lancaster: The Combat Air Strategy, which the Secretary of State for Defence announced on 21 February 2018 to the Defence Committee, was published on 16 July 2018.

Military Aircraft: Procurement

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Defence Procurement of 9 July 2018, on Leaving the EU: Defence and Military Aerospace Industry, Official Report, column 694, which European countries are working with the UK on the Future Combat Air Strategy.

Mark Lancaster: In developing the Combat Air Strategy, Ministry of Defence officials have held discussions with a range of European nations, as well as a number of allies and partners from across the globe.

Ministry of Defence: Mobile Phones

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training he has undertaken on the (a) use of smartphones and (b) security risks smartphones pose; whether he has undertaken any such training since 3 July 2018; and whether he plans to attend any such training in the future.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the appropriateness of (a) Ministers and (b) senior civil servants enabling voice recognition software on their smartphones; and what discussions he has had with the Cabinet Office on the risk smartphones pose to security.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the level of threat to cyber security posed by the use of voice recognition software; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what processes on the enforcement of cyber security guidelines were undertaken when he acquired his current smartphone.

Gavin Williamson: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) regularly reviews its policies in the light of risks and technological developments, and ensures appropriate advice and guidance is in place for personnel at all levels. The MOD ensures all personnel receive standard security guidance on the use of official Portable Electronic Devices. We do not comment on specific aspects of our security posture.

Military Bases

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total value of disposal receipts is to date from the disposal of sites identified in his Department's Better Defence Estate Strategy.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The disposal of sites identified in the Better Defence Estate Strategy has generated to date some £19.6 million in disposal receipts.

Department for Work and Pensions

Carer's Allowance

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the clarity of the wording of the underlying entitlement rules in departmental correspondence to vulnerable adults applying for carers allowance.

Sarah Newton: We have examined a selection of Carer’s Allowance letters that contain wording about underlying entitlement and found these to be clear.However, should anyone need further advice on the rules relating to underlying entitlement for Carer’s Allowance, the letters we examined advised customers to contact the Department’s Carer’s Allowance Unit where they can get advice tailored to their individual circumstances.The Department continually looks to improve the clarity of its communications and considers feedback wherever possible.

Personal Independence Payment: Motor Neurone Disease

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of changing her Department's policy so that people over the age of 65 who have motor neurone disease can apply for personal independence payment and be eligible for a motability car; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: The aim of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is to focus additional help with the extra costs of disability on people who become severely disabled earlier in life and who, as a consequence, face limited opportunities to work, earn and save compared with other people. Once PIP has been awarded, and subject to the conditions of entitlement continuing to be met, it can continue in payment after age 65. The upper age limit for PIP is currently aligned with State Pension age and will be rising in line with increases to it beginning from later this year.For people who become disabled after reaching pension age Attendance Allowance (AA) can provide help with the extra costs of disability, and helps them maintain their independence. AA is a tax-free, non-contributory benefit which can be used flexibly to help meet extra needs, including those associated with limited mobility, and is currently worth up to £85.60 a week.

Personal Independence Payment: Epilepsy

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of Disability Living Allowance with epilepsy who received zero points in an assessment for personal independence payment received an award at tribunal.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new claimants of personal independence payments with epilepsy who received zero points during their initial assessment subsequently received an award at tribunal.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not readily available.

Funeral Payments

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the interest rate charge is for funeral expenses payments.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the amount of money owed to the public purse from  funeral expenses payments.

Justin Tomlinson: We make low-cost funeral expense payments to people who receive (or whose partners receive) a qualifying benefit or Tax Credit. These are recoverable from the estate of the deceased and where there aren’t enough assets available in the estate it is written off. DWP’s Annual Report and Accounts 2017-2018 contains information on losses associated with the social fund at page 159, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/721224/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-2018.pdf There were 663k (gross) of Funeral Expense Payments outstanding as at 31 March 2018. The Department for Work and Pensions has the discretion to apply interest at 1.5% above the Bank of England Base Rate when recovering an outstanding Funeral Payment from an estate. Interest would be charged on any balance outstanding at the end of each calendar year.

Motability

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what provisions her Department has in place to support people who lose their motability vehicle for a prescribed period due to changes in their benefits.

Sarah Newton: The Department worked closely with Motability to develop an extensive £175 million transitional support package when PIP was first introduced. This provides support to people who have not been awarded the enhanced mobility component upon reassessment from DLA to PIP and as a result lose their Motability scheme vehicle. This is paid for by the Motability charity, at no cost to the taxpayer. Claimants who are reassessed from DLA to PIP and joined the Motability scheme before 1 January 2014 can keep their vehicle for up to 3 months after finding out their claim is unsuccessful and are offered a one-off payment of between £1,000 and £2,000. If a claimant is appealing the decision made on their DLA to PIP reassessment, they are offered a 26- week lease extension and a smaller one-off payment. In addition, claimants have the option to buy their old Scheme vehicle, and can obtain help to adapt any new, non- scheme vehicle.

Social Mobility

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to increase levels of social mobility.

Justin Tomlinson: I refer you to my previous answer to the member for Witham in the House on 21 May, volume 641, column 552. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-05-21/debates/3F200720-92F6-4F4B-A1E1-AF6454B09F5B/SocialMobility Through our reforms to the welfare system, we have increased the number of people in employment to a record 32.39m, including increases across historically under-represented groups, and in doing so we have reduced the number of children living in workless households by around 600,000.

Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of appropriateness of the special rules for terminal illness for unpredictable terminal illnesses such as motor neurone disease.

Sarah Newton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 July 2018 to Question UIN 160109.

Veterinary Medicine: Migrant Workers

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans are in place to ensure that veterinary surgeons working in meat hygiene from (a) other EU member states and (b) non-EU states to access their pensions if they are no longer domiciled in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Guy Opperman: Private pension savings or accrued rights, including pensions accrued through an occupational pension scheme, are treated as the property of the individual scheme member. Private property is protected by both UK and international law. Consequently, individuals who have accrued a private pension in the UK are currently able to access their pension savings or pension rights regardless of whether they are domiciled outside of the UK in either an EU or a non-EU state. There will be no change for individuals who are domiciled in a non-EU state after the UK leaves the EU. The reciprocal rights and entitlements that will apply to UK citizens domiciled in EU states when the UK leaves the EU are subject to the wider negotiation on our future relationship with the EU and we will seek to ensure the best possible outcome for the British people, at home and overseas. However, irrespective of the outcome of those negotiations we would expect the current position in respect of private pensions to be maintained. We fully expect that people domiciled in an EU member state will continue to be able to access their UK private pension savings or UK private pension rights after the UK leaves the EU.

Children: Maintenance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of receipts to the public purse from Child Maintenance Service charges in each year from 2020-21 up to and including 2025/26.

Justin Tomlinson: We are not able to provide details of estimates for receipts to the public purse from Child Maintenance Service charges for 2020-21 up to and including 2025-26, figures will comprise part of the Spending Review which has yet to be agreed.

Child Maintenance Service: Training

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when new training on domestic abuse, piloted in May 2017, for Child Maintenance Service staff was rolled out nationally.

Justin Tomlinson: Training delivery commenced 5th March 2018 and is due for completion by the end of October 2018 for all Child Maintenance Service (CMS) Staff. 3,996 people have been identified as requiring this training. 2,426 CMS colleagues have undertaken training up to June 2018 and the remainder are on track for this to be completed by October 2018

Child Maintenance Service: Training

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether Child Maintenance Options staff have received the new training on domestic abuse, piloted in May 2017 for Child Maintenance Service staff.

Justin Tomlinson: Child Maintenance Options provide impartial information to support parents in making the most appropriate maintenance arrangement for their circumstances. All Child Maintenance Options staff receive comprehensive training at induction which includes domestic violence and abuse.

Jobcentres: Peterlee

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2018 to Question 153800 on Jobcentre Plus: data protection, if he will publish the Physical Security Survey relating to Peterlee Jobcentre.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP treats the safety of employees and individuals on its premises as paramount and therefore will not publish any Physical Security Survey in case this led to exposure of identified security vulnerabilities at a particular site; which in turn could be exploited to the detriment of DWP staff, individuals visiting the premises, and delivery of services to customers

Social Security Benefits: Windrush Generation

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what limit there is on the amount of money awarded to people of the Windrush generation in backdated benefits claims.

Alok Sharma: DWP officials are working with the Home Office and other Government bodies to help individuals affected and ensure that they are able to access the benefits and services to which they are entitled. Each case is considered on its merits. Where evidence shows that a decision was reached without knowledge of a material fact or based on incorrect information, then the law provides that such decisions can be revised without limit.

Pensions: Windrush Generation

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many representations his Department has received on disallowed pension contributions for the Windrush generation in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

Alok Sharma: The Department is working closely with the Home Office to help and support Windrush generation claimants who present themselves to us but who are unable to provide proof of their immigration status. DWP is not aware of any cases reported to the Department specifically regarding disallowed pension contributions in 2017 or 2018.

Children: Day Care

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 152769 on Children: Day Care, what proportion of parents receiving universal credit currently receive the maximum amount for childcare costs in (a) Barnsley and (b) England.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Pets: Sales

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason his Department took the decision to launch a consultation on third party sales of dogs and cats in addition to the call for evidence that already exists.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government has plans to amend the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 to extend licensing to rescue centres.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of legal safeguards to ensure that third-party pet sellers are not able to register as rescue centres in the event of a ban on third-party sales of dogs and cats.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations his Department has received from (a) organisations, (b) charities and (c) individuals on  the requirement for animal rescue centres to be licensed.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate animal rescue centres.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing pet vending licences for animal rescue centres.

George Eustice: Defra undertook a call for evidence in order to form a well-grounded understanding of the case for banning the third party sale of puppies and kittens, and of how such a ban should best be designed and implemented. The evidence we have obtained has valuably shaped the reforms which will formally be proposed via a consultation. Defra is working with a range of organisations, including the Canine and Feline Sector Group, to consider the impacts of a possible ban, including the impacts on rescue and rehoming centres. Any proposal to bring such centres into the scheme of licensing under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 would be subject to full public consultation. Any rescue centre that operates commercially and offers animals for a fixed fee in England would be in scope of being licensed as a commercial pet seller under the regulations.

Veterinary Medicine

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on the mutual recognition of veterinary professional qualifications between the EU and the UK  after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: Although no discussions have taken place with the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on this matter, we have discussed the mutual recognition of professional qualifications with Taskforce 50 as part of the negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Defra continues to work in partnership with stakeholders including the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and British Veterinary Association to prepare for any impacts to the veterinary profession resulting from the UK leaving the EU.

Game: Birds

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the  welfare of (a) caged and (b) non-caged game birds; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: Defra commissioned research into gamebird rearing from 2010 to 2012: AW1303 “Study to determine whether cage-based breeding can meet the needs of game birds, and if not, to identify best practice”. This research found that for pheasants and partridges, providing increased space does not necessarily equate with enhanced welfare.   Defra’s advisory body, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC), was tasked with considering all aspects of gamebird farming to feed into future work in this area. This assessment included a range of traditional and more intensive methods of gamebird breeding and rearing, including: breeding partridges in cages; breeding pheasants in grass pens or raised cages; rearing partridges and pheasants in brooder huts with grass pens; and commercial broiler chicken-type sheds with outdoor runs. In 2008, it published an Opinion on the Welfare of Farmed Gamebirds and its recommendations fed into Defra’s current Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/325047/FAWC_opinion_on_the_welfare_of_farmed_gamebirds.pdf

Marine Protected Areas

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is he taking to expand the size of UK’s Blue Belt.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is currently consulting on the Third Tranche of Marine Conservation Zones which closes on 20 July. In this consultation we are proposing 41 new sites, covering an area of 11,700 km2. If all 41 new sites are designated then a total of 218,000 km2 will be protected in the UK’s Blue Belt.

Agricultural Products: Imports

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions officials in his Department with responsibility for the UK leaving the EU have had with (a) port authorities, (b) major retailers, and (c) haulage firms on the volume and nature plant and animal materials imported to the UK from EU countries; and on what dates those discussions took place.

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many official discussions have taken place between policy teams for the UK leaving in the EU in relevant agencies of his Department and (a) port authorities, (b) major retailers, and (c) haulage firms on the different arrangements that will need to be put in place for the inspection of plant and animal materials imported to the UK from EU countries; and on what dates those discussions took place.

George Eustice: My officials talk regularly with a wide range of stakeholders, including the groups mentioned. From a Port Health Authority perspective (which will include the Food Standards Agency and the Animal and Plant Health Agency) there have been five Official meetings: Three have been chaired by Border Delivery Group and took place on the 28th February, 1st May and 2nd July 2018. Two have been chaired by the Biosecurity and Food Project directorate and took place on the 9th February and 15th March 2018. Alongside these official meetings, various informal meetings and workshops have taken place.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will suspend all cage trapping of badgers in cull areas owing to the unusually dry and hot weather.

George Eustice: Natural England has published guidance to provide clear direction to those licensed to carry out the cage-trapping and dispatch of badgers to prevent the spread of bovine TB in cattle. It provides recommendations on best practice and highlights those areas of the technique that must be complied with, including licence conditions. The guidance ensures that licensed badger culling is done in a humane way, including reducing the risks of trapped badgers suffering exposure due to severe weather (extremes of hot or cold). Natural England keeps this under review during the course of licensed operations.

Livestock: Exports

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the provisions of the White Paper, The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, Cm9593, will enable him to bring forward legislative proposals for a ban on the export of livestock.

George Eustice: I refer my Hon Friend to the reply given to the Honourable Member for South Thanet, on 16 July 2018 PQ UIN 162599.

Public Footpaths: South Yorkshire

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department has allocated for the repair and maintenance of footpaths in South Yorkshire.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Local highway authorities are responsible for the maintenance of public rights of way. The Revenue Support Grant (RSG) is the support provided to local authorities from central government to deliver various duties, including maintenance. The RSG is managed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.   It is not ring-fenced so it is for local authorities to manage and decide how to spend their own budgets.

Home Office

Crimes of Violence: Disclosure of Information

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the news article entitled Amber Rudd denies seeing leaked Home Office violent crime report, published by The Guardian on Monday 9 April 2018, whether (a) the Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service (b) her special advisers and (c) special advisers to Ministers in her Department had seen the leaked report.

Victoria Atkins: The former Home Secretary made clear at the launch of the strategy on 9 April that the Guardian had not shared the leaked document with us and so she hadn’t seen it.This is also the case in relation to the Minister of State for Policing and Fire and special advisors in the Department at the time. However, as the former Home Secretary made clear, she had seen extensive sets of analysis from Home Office officials as the strategy and its underlying evidence developed.

Home Office: Written Questions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to respond to Questions 135961 and 135962, on Crimes of Violence: Disclosure of Information, tabled by the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley, on 16 April 2018.

Victoria Atkins: The responses to questions UIN 135961 and 135962 were given on 17th July 2018 and 26th June 2018.

Passports: Eritrea

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions his Department has had with the Eritrean Embassy on their policy on issuing Eritrean passports to citizens who have been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office has not discussed the policy of issuing passports to citizens who have been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK with the Eritrean Embassy. The decision to issue passports to Eritrean’s who have been granted indefinite leave to remain is solely a matter for Government of Eritrea

Firearms: Smuggling

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of weapons seized at the border were (a) prohibited firearms (b) 50 calibre firearms; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: Border Force detects imports of firearms, detaining those which are prohibited, or ostensibly unlicensed or irregularly imported. In financial year 17/18 Border Force seized 2490 firearms.All prohibited firearms that are detected are seized. Border Force figures do not distinguish between firearms seized as prohibited weapons and restricted weapons seized due to irregular importation. Our data also does not recordthe calibre of firearms seized.

Metropolitan Police: Police Patrolling

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hours police officers spent on patrol in (a) the London Borough of Lewisham and (b) the Metropolitan Police Service area in each of the last seven years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold centrally the information requested.The Home Office collects and publishes information on the primary roles that police officers perform, as well as the number of frontline officers, for Police Force Areas in England and Wales. Data are collected on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis, with no information available for the number of hours spent performing each role. These data are published annually as part of the 'police workforce, England and Wales' statistical bulletin, the latest of which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2017Data on the primary roles officers perform, and the number of officers on the frontline, are only collected at Police Force Area level and cannot be broken down any further. Furthermore, the number of officers specifically on foot patrol cannot be separately identified. The latest available data on frontline officers, broken down by Police Force Area and going back to 2010, can be found in Table_F5 of the data tables accompanying the main release.Data for the years 2010 to 2014 are estimated since data prior to 31 March 2015 were collected under a different framework, with different definitions.Decisions on the size and deployment of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers, working with their Police and Crime Commissioners, and taking into account local priorities.

Immigration: Carers

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have applied for the right to reside in the UK as carers under Ruiz-Zambrano case law since 2011; and of those people how many were successful.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will provide a breakdown by nationality of people who have (a) applied for and (b) been successful in their applications for the right to reside in the UK as carers under Ruiz-Zambrano case law since 2011.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of people resident in the UK who derive their right to reside from their status as primary carers under Ruiz-Zambrano case law.

Caroline Nokes: There are no published statistics specifically relating to carers who have made applications and been successful under the Ruiz-Zambrano case law, however information available on the issue and refusal of residence documentation to EEA nationals and their family members, broken down by the applicants’ nationality is published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics, European Economic Area volume table at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2018/list-of-tables#european-economic-area-eeaAs European rights are automatic rights with no mandatory application required, the Home Office does not hold the information requested relating to the number of people resident in the UK who derive their right to reside from their status as primary carers under the Ruiz–Zambrano case law.Statistics on the UK’s resident population is a matter for the Office for National Statistics.

Asylum

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report Waiting in the Dark: How the asylum system dehumanises, disempowers and damages, published in May 2018 by Refugee Action.

Caroline Nokes: Home Office Ministers and officials meet regularly with Refugee Action and other NGOs to discuss the operation of the asylum system. However, we do not routinely provide responses to individual reports.

Asylum: Appeals

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference evidence in the report, Waiting in the Dark: How the asylum system dehumanises, disempowers and damages, published by Refugee Action in May 2019, what assessment has he made of the reasons for the high number of decisions overturned on appeal.

Caroline Nokes: UK Visas and Immigration has an internal audit process, consisting of reviews by senior case workers and independent auditors, which assesses the application of Home Office policy. We continue to work to improve the quality of decision-making to ensure that we properly consider all the evidence provided and get decisions right the first time.Appeals are allowed for a variety of reasons including the presentation of fresh evidence, not available at the time of the initial decision. We have a very active feedback system between our presenting officers and those who make decisions on asylum claims. Where our reviews show that there are lessons for the Home Office, these are fed back to decision making units who use them to improve operational practices.

Immigrants: Detainees

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have been detained in Immigration Removal Centres in each year for which information is available.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office publish data on the number of children entering detention by year and quarter. The data is available in tables dt_02 and dt_02_q of the detention tables.The latest available data are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, year ending March 2018’ at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/709326/detention-mar-2018-tables.ods

Immigration Controls

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total number of ePassport border gates was at each set of UK passport controls, including airports and juxtaposed controls at Brussels and Calais in each of the last five years for which figures are available; how many hours each ePassport border gate was (a) operational and (b) not operational; which ePassport border gates were not operational; and for how long each such gate was not operational in each of those years.

Caroline Nokes: For reasons of national security, Border Force does not comment on operational issues relating to border security. This includes the specific number of ePassport gates operational at individual airports.The total or cumulative number of ePassport gates at all UK passport controls as of 31st December in each of the last 5 years are as follows: 2013 = 592014 = 1042015 = 1312016 = 1862017 = 2492018 = 259 ( as at 13 July 2018)Border Force opens ePassport Gate to match the demand at the time; not all gates are open 24/7. Border Force maintain operational capability to close ePassport Gate where required, such as quiet periods overnight or where there is a need to increase non-EEA PCP availability.We have extended our use of ePassport Gates to more locations. There are now 259 ePassport Gates in operation at 22 terminals around the UK and juxtaposed locations. At 13 of these locations there are 10 or more gates.ePassport Gate usage continues to increase, linked to the increase availability of ePassports. In the 12 months to May 2018, 49.3m passengers used the gates - an increase of 24% on the previous year. This figure also represents over 70% of those passengers eligible to use them, and 35% of all international arrivals (in 2017).

Immigration: Appeals

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the letter from the Minister of State for Immigration to the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee of 21 June 2018, reference DEP2018/0611, how many of the 204 Judicial Review challenges under paragraph 322(5) of the Immigration Act were settled out of court by his Department; and how many of the 223 appeals under paragraph 322(5) of the Immigration Act,has his Department settled out of court.

Caroline Nokes: As stated in the letter, we will provide further information in relation to legal challenges in our final report to the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Dangerous Dogs: Lancashire

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many attacks on people by dogs have been recorded by the police in Lancashire in the last 2 years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office publishes police recorded crime open data tables which include violence against the person offences. There is not a specific crime for dog attacks. These will be recorded under violence against the person offences but cannot be separately identified in the data held by the Home Office.The most recent police recorded crime open data tables can be found in the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Immigration: Carers

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his policy is on the right to reside in the UK of carers with Ruiz-Zambrano status who are nationals of countries outside of the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding his Department plans to allocate to British children of carers residing in the UK under Zambrano status after the UK has left the EU.

Caroline Nokes: As set out in paragraph 6.12 of the Statement of Intent on the EU Settlement Scheme published on 21 June 2018, provision in the Immigration Rules will be made for a non-EU citizen who is the primary carer of a British citizen in the UK and who currently derives a right of residence from wider EU law (a Zambrano carer).Further details will be provided in due course on the new status which will be available to them. The Home Office has no plans to allocate funding in this area.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Information Officers

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many communications staff based in Wales his Department employs.

Alun Cairns: The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales employs six communications staff in Wales. The team covers external engagement, events, visits and communications.

Scotland Office

Trade Promotion: Scotland

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many times he has met the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to discuss the promotion of Scottish interests internationally; and what joint work they have agreed on such promotion.

David Mundell: I congratulate the Foreign Secretary on his appointment and look forward to discussing these and other matters regularly with him. Our Departments work to promote Scottish interests internationally through overseas visits as well as key campaigns including GREAT and Global Britain.

Wind Power: Scotland

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales of 11 July 2018, Official Report, column 949, on Industrial Strategy, when he last discussed onshore wind sites in Scotland being able to access future Contract for Difference auctions.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales of 11 July 2018, Official Report, column 949, on Industrial Strategy, what the timescale is for the announcement relating to onshore wind policy for Scotland.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales of 11 July 2018, Official Report, column 949, on Industrial Strategy, whether the proposed announcement on onshore wind include making onshore wind sites in Scotland eligible for future Contract for Difference auctions; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: I have regular discussions with BEIS Ministers on a range of issues and can confirm that no decisions have been made to provide support via Contracts for Difference for onshore wind in Scotland other than those taken in respect of implementing the manifesto commitment on remote island wind.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the figure of 33 per cent of Government procurement spend going to SME's is a target or an aspiration.

Oliver Dowden: This Government is committed to supporting small businesses and continue to target 33% of Government procurement spend going to SMEs by 2022. In April I announced a number of measures to help achieve this, such as: To require greater transparency by prime contractors to increase SMEs visibility in the supply chain;To improve the visibility of supply chain opportunities to SMEs; andTo further improve prompt payment to SMEs in the supply chain. We have already streamlined our procurement processes to assist small businesses, and we continue to focus on breaking down the barriers that might deter SMEs from bidding for Government contracts.

Treasury

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Mary Glindon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total cost to the public purse of alcohol duty freezes and reductions since 2013.

Robert Jenrick: Based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) published policy costings, we estimate the cumulative loss to the Exchequer from the successive alcohol duty freezes and cuts from financial year 2013-14 to the current financial year 2018-19 to be around £4.0bn. This is equal to the yearly cost of employing over 100,000 teachers. The annual impacts on the Exchequer are reported in the table below. (£m)2013-142014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19Exchequer Impact-170-505-685-770-820-1,025 These past decisions will also incur future losses to the Exchequer in years beyond 2018-19. The OBR’s costings of previously announced policies currently extend to 2022-23, and the future impact of these announced freezes and cuts in the alcohol duties to that year is estimated to be around £4.4bn. The future annual impacts are set out in the table below. (£m)2019-202020-212021-222022-23Exchequer Impact-1,050-1,075-1,105-1,140 The OBR’s policy costings are available at the following link: http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/download/policy-measures-database/

Tax Avoidance

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total amount that will accrue to the public purse from the Loan Charge 2019.

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many non-UK citizens HMRC has estimated are liable to pay the 2019 Loan Charge.

Mel Stride: The charge on disguised remuneration (DR) loans is estimated to raise £3.2 billion for the Exchequer by 2021. Further information can be found in the ‘Disguised remuneration: further update’ policy paper, published on 22 November 2017: www.gov.uk/government/publications/disguised-remuneration-further-update/disguised-remuneration-further-update. The charge on DR loans is estimated to affect up to 50,000 individuals. Outstanding DR loans will be treated as UK income and charged to tax on 5 April 2019. An individual will usually have to pay tax on UK income even if they are not resident in or a citizen of the UK, and the charge on DR loans is no different. As a result, no assessment has been made of how many of the 50,000 estimated to be affected are non-UK resident or non-UK citizens.

Coastal Erosion: Compensation

David Duguid: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department’s policy is on the provision of compensation for (a) individuals and (b) businesses affected by coastal erosion.

Elizabeth Truss: As a devolved policy matter, responsibility for management of coastal erosion and flood risk lies with the Devolved Administrations. Although there is no automatic right to Government compensation for damage from flooding or coastal erosion, we recognise the risk to coastal communities. Therefore in England the Government is investing a total of £885 million over six years - £165 million on coastal erosion projects and £690 million on schemes to better protect communities against flooding from the sea.

Stamp Duties

Heidi Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to make stamp duty payable on the portion of a property that each person owns according to their tax status in the next Budget.

Mel Stride: The Government reformed Stamp Duty Land Tax on residential properties at Autumn Statement 2014, cutting the tax for 98% of people who pay it, unless they are purchasing additional property. The Government’s priority is to support first-time buyers. At the 2017 Autumn Budget, the Government removed SDLT for all first-time buyers purchasing properties up to £300,000, with the relief also extending to purchases worth up to £500,000. These changes will help over one million households over the next 5 years.

Tax Avoidance

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what methodology his Department used to calculate the cost of non-compliance with IR35 in the private sector.

Mel Stride: The cost of non-compliance with IR35 in the private sector is projected to increase from £700 million in 2017/18 to £1.2 billion in 2022/23. The costing is an estimate of the tax revenue lost due to companies considered to have taxable income within the scope of the intermediaries’ legislation not applying the legislation in full. The costing is underpinned by analysis of Corporation Tax data, Companies House data and Self-Assessment tax returns. The methodology and assumptions used to produce the estimate are similar to the policy costing for the off-payroll working measure (applying only to intermediary engagements with public sector bodies) announced at Budget 2016, which has been certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Tax Avoidance

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue has been remitted since the public sector IR35 reform was implemented, taking account of reductions in corporation tax.

Mel Stride: HMRC estimates that an additional £410 million of income tax and NICs has been remitted, in the first 10 months since the public sector reform was introduced. This means that, taking into account the expected corresponding impacts on corporation and dividend tax receipts, the reform is on course to increase overall Exchequer revenues by at least the level estimated at Spring Budget 2017.

Tax Avoidance

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what exceptions or special arrangements HMRC has agreed with public sector bodies to enable them to meet their obligations under the new IR35 rules.

Mel Stride: HMRC provided extensive support and guidance to public sector bodies to help them implement the public sector off-payroll working rules, introduced in April 2017. HMRC has not agreed any exceptions or special arrangements with public sector bodies.

Tax Avoidance

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of private sector employers to be impacted by the Government’s proposed changes to IR35 legislation.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on productivity and the costs of doing business of extending the IR35 reforms in the public sector to the private sector.

Mel Stride: The Government is currently consulting on how to best tackle non-compliance with the off-payroll working rules (known as IR35) in the private sector. The impact and effect on businesses will depend on the outcome of those consultations.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Clive Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of fuel duty tax revenues in (a) 2020, (b) 2030 and (c) 2040.

Robert Jenrick: The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts fuel duty receipts for the next five years; The 2020-21 forecast is £29.6 billion. This forecast assumes that fuel duty is uprated in line with the Retail Price Index. However, since 2011, fuel duty has been frozen – a cut in real terms. The announced freezes to fuel duty have meant the Exchequer has not collected around £46 billion in revenues through to 2018-19, and a further £38 billion of revenues will be foregone over the forecast period as a result of these previously announced freezes. For the purposes of comparison, £46bn is around twice as much as we spend on all NHS nurses and doctors each year. Although longer term forecasts are not published, the OBR’s Fiscal Risks Report highlights that, in the long-term, revenues from fuel duty will decline as vehicles switch from liquid fuels to electric power and become more efficient. The government recognises that these changes may impact tax revenues, but it believes fuel duty will continue to have an important role in the tax system.

Social Services: Pay

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what resources HMRC has allocated to the inspection of the non-payment of travel time for care workers for the purposes of calculating the (a) national living wage and (b) national minimum wage in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Mel Stride: The government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100 or via the online complaints form at gov.uk. HMRC uses its resources to tackle all NMW risks identified in the course of responding to all complaints and undertaking targeted enforcement activity in high risk sectors. The HMRC NMW enforcement budget for 2018/19 is £26.3 million, up from £20m in 2016/17. When investigating an employer’s compliance HMRC considers all NMW risks that might be present, including when travel time can be working time for NMW purposes. If NMW arrears are identified HMRC will always take action to ensure workers receive what they are legally entitled to.

Economic Growth

Andrew Bowie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to hold discussions with the Scottish Government on economic growth in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

Elizabeth Truss: Treasury Ministers have regular discussions with the Scottish Government on matters of importance to both the Scottish and UK economies, and plan to have further discussions in due course.

Welfare Tax Credits: Disability

Ruth George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many parents with disabled children in residential settings are in receipt of tax credits based on the rule under tax credit regulations that payment for a child in residential accommodation can continue so long as they are in care solely because of their disability.

Elizabeth Truss: This information can only be made available at a disproportionate cost.

*No heading*

Emma Hardy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of LINK's decision to reduce its ATM interchange fee on the viability of small and medium-sized businesses in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency.

John Glen: The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. Government has been engaging and will continue to engage with the regulators and industry, including LINK, to ensure that it is maintained. At Spring Statement, Government also launched a public Call for Evidence on cash and digital payments which, amongst other things, sought to find out how cash usage and need varies by region. The Government established the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) in 2015 with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users. As part of this, the PSR is monitoring developments within ATM provision. The PSR has undertaken work to understand the impact on the provision of free-to-use ATMs that a reduction in interchange fees may have and a summary of the findings can be found on their website. The Government has therefore not made its own assessment of the impact and does not intend to do so.The PSR have also set out three requirements of LINK: that LINK must maintain the current geographical spread of ATMs; that any changes made to interchange fees must be incremental to allow LINK to monitor the impact and take action if the impact is not as expected; and for a greater focus on LINK’s financial inclusion programme, to continue to fill gaps in the network. The PSR has committed to using its powers to act should LINK behave in a way that conflicts with its statutory objectives.

Bank Services: Older People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the elderly of the increasing transition to online banking and accessing billing services online.

John Glen: The Government recognises the need to support local communities in adapting to changes in the banking landscape, and is committed to improving access to financial services across both traditional and digital channels. The independent financial services regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has recently released a series of publications exploring the needs of elderly and vulnerable consumers. In September 2017, the FCA published its Ageing Population Occasional Paper, which reviewed the policy implications of an ageing population and the resulting impact on financial services. In October 2017, the FCA also published its ‘Financial Lives Survey’, the first in a series of annual large scale surveys (13,000 interviews). This survey is designed to add a substantial new source of data to the regulator’s understanding of consumers in the retail financial markets. In addition, in November 2017 the FCA published its ‘Approach to Consumers’ Paper, which details how the FCA measures the effects of its actions on consumers, particularly with respect to access and vulnerability. The Government supports the FCA’s work in this area and will continue to work with it to ensure that all consumers are treated fairly.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Advertising: Regulation

Mr John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether Ofcom will have the primary role in the data provision and analysis of the forthcoming consultation on advertising restrictions.

Mr John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what role his Department plans to play in the forthcoming consultation on advertising restrictions as part of the obesity strategy; and if he will ensure that Ofcom have the primary role in data provision and analysis for broadcasting and online advertising.

Margot James: DCMS and DHSC will jointly consult on introducing a 9pm watershed on TV and similar protection for children viewing adverts online. The consultation will be launched before the end of the year. We are working with a range of stakeholders including Ofcom, the Advertising Standards Authority and the National Institute for Health Research Obesity Policy Research Unit to understand how the evidence base for action in these areas develops and will provide more detail in due course.

Tourism

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much money was spent on advertising the activity of touring in England to the UK market in each year since 2010.

Michael Ellis: VisitBritain and VisitEngland are responsible for promoting the UK as a tourist destination, through a range of different initiatives and campaigns. The following table shows the funding that has been spent on promoting England and developing English tourism product since 2010. It includes activity focused on both domestic and international visitors: Financial YearExpenditure (£k)2009-1010,8072010-119,9002011-1211,0492012-1310,2142013-1410,1422014-157,9352015-1618,6842016-1716,2982017-1818,444Total113,473

Mass Media

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will take steps to tackle fake news by extending current regulation and guidance on the prominence given to public service broadcasters in printed television guides to (a) such guides and similar information provided online and (b) the operation of voice assistants when they asked for news headlines.

Margot James: The Government takes the issue of fake news and disinformation very seriously. The Public Service Broadcasters are our best protection against disinformation and it is important that high quality public service content including news content is widely accessible to viewers. That is why under the Digital Economy Act 2017, Ofcom are required to publish a report which looks at the ease of finding and accessing PSB content across all platforms. Ofcom will consult on this issue soon and the final report must be published before December 2020.

Electronic Commerce: EU Law

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish proposals to modernise the eCommerce directive.

Margot James: The eCommerce Directive is EU legislation. As detailed in the Withdrawal Agreement, EU law will remain in place until the end of the Implementation Period. There are no plans to publish proposals to modernise the eCommerce Directive.

Broadband

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department is making on the implementation of the Local Full Fibre Networks programme, announced in Spring Budget 2017.

Margot James: Following its announcement in the Spring 2017 Budget, the LFFN programme invested £10m in market trials of its full fibre stimulation approach across the country. After evaluation of these trials, in November 2017 LFFN launched its £190m Challenge Fund, designed to stimulate commercial investment in full fibre networks in both rural and urban locations across the whole of the UK. Local bodies were invited to submit formal bids, and the first round of funding was allocated to 13 successful bidders that were announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement in March 2018. In March 2018 LFFN also delivered on a manifesto commitment with the launch of its £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme for small to medium sized businesses and the local communities around them across the UK.

Broadband: Scotland

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on the Local Full Fibre Networks programme, announced in Spring Budget 2017.

Margot James: The LFFN programme has engaged regularly with Scottish government officials on the overall programme and on specific initiatives, and collaborated with Scottish Government to run a joint regional event in December 2017 for Scottish Local Authorities, advising them how to bid into the £190m Challenge Fund. We are also in regular discussion with the Scottish Government around the R100 Programme, to ensure alignment between our programmes. LFFN is delivering significant benefits in Scotland. Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire was selected as a pilot areas ahead of the launch of the £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The Highlands of Scotland were one of the successful bidders announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement in 2018, and we are also currently in communication with several Scottish Local Authorities regarding their interest in bidding for the next round of the Challenge Fund.